A Lot to Be Seen
by Tygercat2
Summary: Jesse has a problem with BAU criminal analyst Derek Morgan. He wants to find out more about her. What will he do when he figures out her past? Will she let him help? What happens when her past threatens to destroy both of them?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N So I take forever to update anything apparently. I still kind of like this story, but it needs major editing. I am planning on going through every chapter and editing them. Hopefully after that I will update, but it may take awhile. **

**I do not own Criminal Minds, or any of the characters in the T.V series. I do own Jesse, James, and the plot line though. If you have any questions about the characters, just send me a message, and I will respond as soon as I can. **

I opened my eyes, and for a split second I forgot; forgot everything that happened in the last few years, and forgot that I was blind. I enjoyed the temporary bliss, it didn't come often. I got out of bed, and counted the steps to the door. My dog, Daemon, followed me and I knew he could tell that today I still couldn't see. It had been months since the last time I could see anything besides lights; even those lights were small areas of actual light: really bright, and gave me a headache. Daemon was a Dalmatian and a Great Dane mixed, and was fiercely overprotective.

I was shot in the head about seven years ago now. There are still bullet fragments in my brain, and most of them are pushing on my occipital lobe. Some days, I can see. But lately, most days I can't. Daemon is my Seeing Eye dog. My husband gave him to me a few months before he was killed in the same shootout that took my eyesight. Our daughter died that day too. I had Daemon trained so I wouldn't have to get another dog. He reminds me of my husband every day, but in a sweet way.

Lately, my doctors have been giving me medicine to try to ease the pressure on my eyes. It was working for a while, but now it causes pain more often then it works. Today was one of those days. I whistled, "Daemon ye lazy mutt, get yer arse up." Don't worry about the odd words here and there, I'm Scottish. Sometimes, my language switches between American English, and Scottish English. It mostly happens when I'm tired, or flustered. I have dual citizenship between Scotland and the U.S. I've lived in the U.S, mostly, for the last eight years though. A couple months out of the year, I go visit Scotland.

I heard my phone buzz on the counter top, "James calling." Yes, my phone just talked. I have a program on my phone that will read the caller I.D to me. It's really annoying when I can see, but when I can't it helps. I answered my phone, and immediately James started talking, "Jesse, can you see today?"

"No. I have a migraine though so be quiet. Why don't you just come over? Leave the lights off when you get here. I can see a little light today, and it's not helping."

"Um, well, ok. I have some, um…important information to tell you." He sounded nervous, like something was wrong, "I suppose it would be better to tell you in person. I'll make you breakfast too." Oh great, he was trying to butter me up.

My migraine got even worse. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'll be over in a minute. Is your door open?" I said yes, and hung up. We lived in an apartment building in Washington D.C. He lived a few doors down from me so I could still have my privacy, but so he could help me on the days I couldn't see. We worked together, so that made everything easier.

By the time he opened my door, it felt like my head was going to split open, and my eyes were going to explode. "James, get me some pain meds. The migraine's worse." He grunted, and walked over to my medicine cabinet. He shuffled his feet while I took the pills, "Quit stalling. What did you want to tell me?"

"Well, I've got good news and some bad news, what do you want to hear first?"

"You're so American. I thought you were Scottish. Anyways, give me the bad." I was stalling too; I had an idea of what he was trying to say.

"Ok, do not hurt me. I am only the messenger." I nodded, this was not going to be good, "it has been seven years since the shooting. The getaway driver is up for parole this year, and an FBI agent testified for him at his parole." He knew I still consult for the FBI, I used to work at Quantico, and consulted on cases for the BAU.

I heard buzzing in my ears, if this migraine didn't get any better I'd have to go to the hospital to get my eyes checked. "Who?" I still kept up to date on my past cases, and even had consulted on a few in recent years. If the agent worked on those cases, I would recognize his name.

"Oh fuck." I started to pass out as Daemon started barking like crazy. He was supposed to bark when I was going to pass out, I forgot to tell him he was working this morning. I forgot to make sure he was really awake.

James didn't notice the difference as I sat down, "A BAU agent named Derek Morgan." I passed out, and he finally realized something was wrong. The moron.


	2. Chapter 2

"Jesse, run!" It was my husband, Ian. He had noticed that we were being followed too. I worked for the FBI, and had recently had a threat against me. It was the man who kidnapped my twin and I when we were fifteen. He tortured and raped me, and made my twin watch. Sometimes he would make her torture me. He was back for my three year old daughter. I couldn't let her get taken. Maybe, if he took me instead, he would leave her alone. I couldn't let what happened to me, happen to her.

I heard a shot, and then felt pain in my shoulder, "Ian! Take her! I'll hold him off. If I stall, you two can run to safety! I'll follow, just run!" I pulled out my gun, and looked in the direction the bullet came from. My shoulder hurt from every movement. We looked at each other, we had already hidden behind our SUV.

In that one instant, I could feel all the love he had for me. I remembered every single moment we had spent together since we were six and back in Scotland. We were both born here, but our families lived in Scotland. Our parents moved us back when we were six, and we had gotten a Scottish accent. Because we spent so much time together, we never fully lost it. We were planning on taking Sophie there when she turned six.

I knew then that one of us wouldn't make it out today. Call it intuition, or a sixth sense. I fully believed in the old Scottish legends. Rumor was, I came from the Fey Folk; the fairies. I whispered, "Take care of her." If one of us wasn't going to make it out today, it would be me. I needed Ian and our daughter to survive; I would break down if they died. A tear fell out of my eye as he nodded, he knew better than to not trust my gut.

I turned around, and started shooting at the man that I hated most in the world. If I was going to die today, so was he. I had scary aim, and I hit the car he was hiding behind every time. I heard the window break as Ian started to run. I looked back, and saw that he had picked her up so they could get away faster.

When I turned back, I saw that the man had started to shoot at them. He hit a car by them as I fired on him. I need to hit him before he hit them. The next thing I heard was Ian yelling, and falling to the ground.

I looked back, and saw that he had been hit. I ran over to them, and shielded her. If I was going to die too, my body would die protecting her. "Ian, Ian. Stay awake. I need you here with me. I can't raise a child on my own. I could barely take care of myself before we got married. You know that. Please stay with me, please!"

He was hit in the chest, and she was already crying. "Jesse, keep her safe. I…I…love you." With that, she was shot too. I heard another gunshot, and then I felt pain in my back, "Mommy!" I heard her scream, and as I was falling, she was falling too, "No! Baby girl, run. Get up and run. Please, get up and run." I closed my eyes, finally feeling the pain, and heard her scream again, her voice breaking, "MOMMY!" The last thing I remember is a piercing pain in the side of my head.

* * *

I opened my eyes, and couldn't see a thing. Not even lights this time. I realized that it had all just been a memory, and that it happened years ago. I tried not to think of how old she would be, or if Ian and I would've had more children. I tried not to think of how the man hadn't been found.

I felt Daemon nudge his nose into my hand, and by the way he whined I realized we were in a hospital room. I could hear the echo's and could tell my room was sort of small. "Brother."

James grabbed my other hand, "sister. You saw it again, didn't you?" He always knew when I remembered that day. "I'm sorry."

He said the same thing every time. What else could he say? "Yes," with that, I closed my eyes and tried to get some actual sleep. I knew the doctor would be in soon, and I did not want to hear what he had to say.

* * *

**A/N FYI any medical facts, or facts about their jobs or anything else is not real. If you want to know what Daemon looks like, watch the Will Smith movie called, "Seven Pounds." The girl's dog in there is almost exactly like what I thought Daemon looks like.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: ****In this chapter there are some "facts" about her company, the FBI, Gaelic (it's a language), and a few other things. I tried to get the translation right, but I'm never completely sure. So just assume if it's wrong, I made it up.**

"Jesse, wake up."

I sighed, it's not like I was getting much sleep anyways. "What?" I opened my eyes, and could see more than just lights. It was the first time I could see in seven months, "When can I get out of here?" If I could see, I didn't want my whole day to be inside this little hospital room.

My doctor laughed, "Soon. We just need to run a few more tests and then you can leave."

"How long Kenderbuilt?" He has been my doctor since I had had my little girl. He knew I would want to get out of here, and fast.

"Why do you want to know so badly? Got a cheap date coming up?" I snorted. He was gay, and had tried to set me up with some of his straight friends before. I looked over to where my brother was sitting, ignoring his comment.

"James, why aren't you at work? It's not like this is the first time I've been here because of a migraine."

He looked at me and furrowed his brow, "They're not just migraines Jesse. You know that. Don't act like they're nothing. If any of the bullet fragments in that thick head of yours moves, it could make you permanently lose your eyesight."

Kenderbuilt looked at me, "no more than half an hour. You and your brother will be done fighting by then I hope." He laughed, and walked out of the room. When he passed by my brother, I once again noticed how dark his skin was, and how pale my brother was. I hoped he wasn't getting sick.

* * *

"I can walk. Daemon's right here, and won't let me fall. Besides, I can see today too." I looked back at the nurse who was steering my wheelchair. She just looked at me, and then looked away. She had heard this from me a million times before, and would hear it from me every time I came back. I don't even know her name, but she smiled slightly. I did this every time just to let her know I was alright, probably to reassure myself that I was alright too.

Daemon barked as soon as the doors opened, he hated being stuck inside as much as I did. I got up, and looked at James, "do you mind if Daemon and I go for a run? I'll call you when I need to be picked up. Or I could just take a cab."

James nodded, "I'll come get you. Just call. I'm going to work until then." We both owned the same company. It specialized in everything from art, law, economics, gun ranges, and everything in between. It even contracted people out to the FBI. That was how I joined the FBI in the first place. We connected with my cousin's company in Scotland. The good thing was I didn't have to go to work every day. I set my own schedule.

I looked at Daemon and said, "Gothlamadh." I had him trained to respond to commands in the Gaidhlig; Gaelic. It's the old language of Scotland. My family has been keeping it alive for centuries, teaching it to children in Scotland for free.

He barked, and started jumping around excitedly. When I can't see, we can't go for an all out run. On those days, I take him for a really long walk around the city. If he gets really anxious, James will take him for a run, but keep him on the leash.

I took off Daemon's leash, and hand it to James. We start running away from the city, out into the country. I go as fast as I can; I don't know when I'll be able to do it again. I'm a little out of shape. I've been depressed lately. Hell, I've been depressed for years, but when I'm depressed I don't work out. This run was going to be long, and would probably hurt tomorrow.

* * *

I practically collapsed on the ground. We've been running for about two hours, sprinting for at least the last half hour. "Daemon, come here. Did that feel good?" He sat next to me, and was panting heavily. I took out my phone, and called James.

He picked up, and grunted a hello, "James, it's me. Come pick me up. We're on the same road as always; didn't make it as far this time though." Whenever I ran like this, I always went on the same few roads. In the off chance that my eyesight disappeared, I didn't want to get lost. t told him the specific one, and then he finally responded, "Where should we go?"

"Home. I need a shower. Then I want to go to the Hoover building, maybe see who it was that testified at the trail." He knew I wouldn't forget that, I practically had a photographic memory.

"Can't it wait? Do you really want to waste your eyesight on that? Let's go do something."

Shit, he had me there. The only thing that was more important to me than those trials was my eyesight, and taking care of Daemon. He had collapsed at my side, with his back against my hip. I could tell he needed a nap. I knew there was a stream around here; Daemon would find it when he wanted too.

"Fuck. Maybe. We'll talk in the car. I really want to see what the hell that guy was thinking when he testified at the trial that killed an FBI agent and his daughter." I was getting depressed again. Shit. I really wanted to stay at least content for now. I could feel the adrenaline level in my body falling. "Just go get the car and come get me." He grunted a yes, and then hung up. I lay back on the grass, and closed my eyes. I needed to investigate what he said at the parole hearing. I really hoped it wasn't another trial. I hoped that James had just mistaken the two again. It looked like Derek Morgan would have to wait until I had more information. I dozed off, and waited for James to come get me.


	4. Chapter 4

When we got back to the apartment building, Daemon almost fell asleep in the elevator up to our level. "Come on, ye auld mutt, up ye go." I yawned. I was tired too. We had gone out to dinner after James picked me up. Then we went shopping. It seemed James took me everywhere. I knew it was to get my mind off of Derek Morgan. For most of the day, it worked. But whenever I started to get happy, he would slip into my mind again, and I got angry again. It wasn't always anger; sometimes it was frustration, or just sadness. I wondered what made him think that the getaway driver in a shooting of two FBI agents and their daughter could be rehabilitated, or even deserved to get out of jail early. I wanted to go talk some sense into him, but I could hardly stand on my own two feet. Plus, I wanted to know if I could get a hold of the transcripts of the parole hearing. Maybe I could see exactly what he said.

"You going to be okay Jesse?"

"What? Oh, James. Yeah. I'm just really tired. I'm going to bed. It was a long day after all." At that last part, I turned and glared at him. He knew that I knew what he was doing the whole day. He just smiled, and unlocked his own door. After that, I went into my apartment, put out some food for Daemon in case he got hungry later, and then crawled into bed with my clothes still on. Daemon jumped up onto my bed next to me. He knew that whenever I was alone in bed, this was ok.

It's not like I have guys over often. But, I do go to bars every now and again, when I can see. Sometimes, I even bring a guy home. None of them ever meant anything. Most of them were to get my mind of Ian. I fell asleep, wishing Ian was here now.

* * *

The next morning I woke up, and couldn't see. Great, I really hoped that this wasn't going to be the time that I only saw things every other day. I could see a little light today though, and couldn't feel any pain in my eyes. I was going to go talk to Derek Morgan today, even if I had to piss James off to do it. When I walked out to my kitchen, I could hear my phone vibrating. I opened it, and dialed the voicemail. "Jesse, it's me. I took Daemon for a walk earlier today to let you sleep in. Sorry about yesterday, I just wanted to enjoy your eyesight. The doctor's going to call you later today. Don't forget. Love you, bye." I deleted it, and I heard someone trying to open my door. I grabbed the nearest knife, getting ready to throw it at whoever came in.

"It's me. Put your knife down Jesse. Can I come in all the way now?"

I threw my knife down on the counter, and whistled for Daemon to come in. He ran in, and I heard the door slam against the wall, "so you like him better than me?" he chuckled. I looked to where his voice was, and I heard him sigh. He could tell by my eyes that I couldn't see today. People told me that my eyes got cloudy on days that I couldn't see. "Oh Jesse, I'm sorry. Is there any pain?"

I shook my head, and knelt next to Daemon, "Timcheallachd." _Time to work._ "Are you going to take me to the Hoover building today? If you don't, I'll just take a cab."

He moved towards me, "Piuthar, I am so sorry." _Sister. _I nodded to show him it was ok. I knew he meant my eyesight, but I had expected it. "Yes. I will take you there after you eat." I half smiled. Daemon went over to eat, but still kept an ear cocked towards me in case I needed something.

I paused, "It's fine."

I could hear James walk near me, and felt him put a hand on my shoulder, "Then what's with the knife?"

I sighed and walked over to the couch. I hadn't moved my furniture in years so I knew where everything was. "He still hasn't been found. I doubt he'll come out now, but you never know."

James sat next to me, "Do you really think he's still watching over you?"

I flinched. I couldn't let him know. I just shook my head instead.

* * *

We had been driving for awhile to get to the FBI offices. It normally wouldn't take this long, except it was rush hour in downtown D. C. "All right. I'll go park the car, and wait for you in the lobby. I have to talk to some people here too, but I should be done by the time you are finished yelling at the guy." He smirked, and someone came to help me to the building. James must have called ahead to let them know we were coming.

"Jesse! Long time no see!" Ah, Paul. Only he could get away with a crude comment like that.

"Well maybe I just wanted to use my eyesight on someone much prettier than you." He laughed a loud boisterous rumble. It was always good to see him, even when I couldn't see. He locked elbows with me, and led me into the building, even holding the door open for me.

"How long has it been since you saw anything substantial?" He knew everything about my eyesight. I came here often, and when I couldn't see he always insisted on staying by my side in the building. He worked here before the shooting, and we would go out to lunch every once in awhile if I didn't come to the building that often.

"Well I could see for about ten hours yesterday, but other than that it's been seven months. About the last time I came here."

"Hmm. So the depression's getting worse than." He lowered his voice when he said the last part, not wanting to tell everyone in the building my personal business. He also knew that I was less likely to work when I was depressed. In my company, I do many things; mainly because I went to law school, and have dual citizenship between here and Scotland. When I work, I came to the FBI at least once a week. Technically, I still worked for the FBI, but I haven't been an active agent in three years. I consult on cases, and have even created a few profiles, but nothing major, or on a set schedule.

"Yes. But, I figure I just need to get back to work. I hope it helps."

He mumbled directions to me as he took me to the elevator, "Before you talk to Derek Morgan, talk to his supervisor. They're in a meeting right now, but they won't mind if we interrupt."

I chuckled, "enjoying your promotion to director Paul?" He laughed again.

"Well having many, many people at your disposal is very fortunate. Plus, I get to blow big wigs off to see a pretty lady like you." For that last part, he leaned over and kissed my cheek. "We're outside his supervisor's office, Aaron Hotchner. It looks like his boss is in there too. Good, hopefully they'll get along."

He paused to give me a minute to collect myself. He knew even thinking about that day hurt. Paul was one of the few people who knew I remembered that whole day, not just up until I got shot in the shoulder. James was the only other person who knew that. Everyone else thought it was odd, because I had a photographic memory.

I knew it was hard for him too. He was one of the first agents on the scene that day. I felt him stiffen at the memory. A few years ago, I made him tell me what he saw that day. It was horrible; he said there was blood everywhere.

I took a deep breath, and entered the office. Both agents in the room jumped up as they saw who accompanied me. Paul was the first one to talk, "SSA Hotchner, SSA Strauss, I do not think either of you have met SSA Graeme." I nodded my head at them, but did not offer my hand. I needed to keep my bearings; I wanted to keep my hands so I could feel the wall in the room. "She's blind." I heard one of the two agents gasp in surprise. Then I heard the woman try to cough to cover up her surprise.

"It's alright. I get that a lot."

The man-Agent Hotchner-said, "Do you have a seeing eye dog?"

"Yes, he's in the lobby with my brother conducting some business. We have found that your agents have become more…cooperative when a dog as large as he is around." I smirked at this.

He chuckled, "isn't it amazing how the agents are perfectly fine in the face of danger, but when faced with a giant dog they cower in fear?"

I chuckled a little, "yes. I came here today to talk to you about an agent of yours. He testified at a trial-"

Paul interrupted me, "Parole Hearing." By this time he had led me to a chair and sat next to me. I heard someone drag a chair over near us and sit themselves.

"Yes, a parole hearing of a getaway driver in a shooting from a couple years back."

The woman interrupted me, "Yes, and what concern is this to you Agent…"

"Graeme." Paul said. He felt he needed to defend me, "And it is SSA Graeme. I would watch your tongue Strauss. Her pay grade is a lot higher than yours, and she has done things for this country you will never dream of doing, even if she has been almost blind for almost eight years."

That's right. It would be eight years in a month. That just made me angrier. "Agent, I understand you have been in a position of authority for a number of years. I do not care. You treat people with respect, even if you are their superior. Besides working for the FBI for over ten years, my company has done work for the FBI for fifteen years, at a much cheaper cost than any other company we do business with. I suggest you do your homework before you meet with someone next time." If Paul knew why I was here she must too. I got up, and started to pace as my voice got louder, "if you HAD done your homework, you would've learned that the shooting that happened that day was the same exact shooting that took my eyesight. It was the same shooting that has caused me so much pain since then. It was the same shooting that took my husband from me. It was the same shooting THAT TOOK MY LITTLE GIRL!" I didn't care how loud I was, I was pissed at how she could dare interrupt me.

She tried to interrupt me again, but both Paul and Agent Hotchner held up a hand to her. "Why did you not consult me on this case anyways? It is written, very clearly I might add, in the case file that any further action on that case should be run by me, or the director."

I turned to where Paul was, and glared at him. Or at least in the direction he was. "Did you authorize any action on this?"

"No. But I think it stated that those orders were only specific to the man that shot you. I know you meant it for the whole case, but it looks like the previous director changed those orders a little."He shuffled some papers; I assumed they were the man's file.

Six months after that happened, the director stepped down, and Paul was promoted.

Agent Hotchner spoke up, "are you sure it's the same case? I assure you, SSA Morgan would not have spoken for someone who took place in the shooting of an FBI agent's family; even if they were only the getaway driver."

That just pissed me off even more, "ONLY the getaway driver? I shot the shooter in the gut that day. He would not have been able to escape if the getaway driver wasn't there!"

Agent Hotchner looked at me, "do you know their names?"

My Scottish accent had gotten really thick by now, "Are you really trying to humanize them to me? They are scum. I wish I did not know their names. I wish they had never entered my life! The driver's name is Coinneach, and the shooters name is Andra."

I could feel Hotchner looking at me, "no. Their names are Kenneth, and Andre."

I waved my hand, "English translation of Scottish names. Kenneth is Irish. Andra is Scottish. He knew my parents. He kidnapped me when I was fifteen. He raped and tortured me. When he was released from prison, he shot and killed my husband and daughter two months later. Do not ask me I if I know their names. I know their life history better than my own. And trust me, most of my own history I do not wish to know."

Paul finally stopped me, "Jesse. Please do not yell. We all understand the situation. While some…reactions," he paused, looking over at Strauss, "were not appropriate for anytime, we will try to get to the bottom of this. Please sit, and we can discuss this."

I snorted. If he wanted to be like that then fine. "I shot Andrew," I emphasized the 'drew' "in the gut on purpose. If I had shot him anywhere else, he would've died and not gone to prison. I have an….extreme sense of morals, justice, and right from wrong. I wanted to be able to know that he was sitting in the most secure prison in the country. I wanted to know that he could not escape, yet he would suffer. If I had known that he had a getaway driver, I would've shot him a little lower." I heard Paul and Hotchner hiss at this. I might have been giving too much of a vivid picture for the both of them. "Or, I would've shot at the car, at the driver." I started to whisper, forgetting that they were even here, "if I had known, I would've left the country sooner. If I had known, I might not have even come back to America."

No one knew what to say at that. "Let me go get SSA Morgan. Maybe he can explain his reasoning." I nodded, and tried to calm down. I didn't need everyone in the bureau to know this. I heard Agent Hotchner open the door and call out, "Morgan, can you come up here? The director's here." I knew he did that to give his agent some warning.

"Sure boss." I heard someone climbing up the stairs, and then another chair being dragged over.

I heard someone enter, "Director, is there a problem?"

"We're not sure yet. You recently testified at the parole hearing of Kenneth Smith. He was the getaway driver in a shooting. It involved Agent Graeme here, her husband, another agent, and their daughter. The last two did not survive."

"Shit. That information wasn't in his file." I heard him sigh, and sit down in the chair. This was going to be a long "talk."


	5. Chapter 5

**Derek's Point of View**

"Morgan, can you come up here? The director's here." I heard Hotch say.

"Sure." I replied, then went up the stairs to his office. "Director, is there a problem?" I looked around the room. Hotch was there, along with Strauss. A woman was there who I did not recognize; she was staring at a point behind me, and her eyes seemed out of focus. The thing I noticed most about her though was her bright red hair. She looked like she wasn't paying attention. I looked at Hotch to see if he could give me any clues as to what was going on. He pulled another chair over, and motioned for me to sit. He pointed to his eyes, then looked at the woman, and shook his head. What did he mean? Why was he motioning to her like that, she was sitting right there, she could see us.

Oh. I looked at her eyes again. She was still staring at the same spot. Her hands were gripping the chair, and her feet were pulled especially close to her chair, like she didn't want to get stepped on. Was she blind? I mouthed to Hotch, _Blind?_ He nodded back. She made a little more sense now.

The director had been looking at the two of us the whole time, and I was especially glad the woman couldn't see what we had been doing. It probably looked like we were analyzing her. "We're not sure yet. You recently testified at the parole hearing of Kenneth Smith. He was the getaway driver in a shooting. It involved Agent Graeme here, her husband, another agent, and their daughter. The last two did not survive."

"Shit. That information wasn't in his file." I sat in the chair, staying away from Agent Graeme. "Are you sure?" Graeme looked like she was about to explode with anger, "Not that I'm questioning you Agent Graeme. It's just normally in cases like that, it specifically says in the file. It only said he was the getaway driver in the shooting of a man and wife, and their only daughter."

"Even if that were the case, what would make you think Coinneach should be let out? I've kept an eye on him. He has been going to therapy, but that hasn't been working. He needs to be put in a mental hospital." As she spoke, I heard an accent of some sort. The angrier she got, the more evident it became.

"Well then it must be a different case. The driver's name was Kenneth."

Her nostrils flared, "again. It is an English translation of a Scottish name; or rather, Irish in his case."

So her accent was Scottish. "The shooting was almost eight years ago wasn't it?" I said, keeping my voice soft.

"Yes." She answered curtly. I could tell she did not want to remember the shooting even more than she already had.

Strauss finally spoke up, "it caused Agent Graham here to lose her eyesight." Well, that was obvious.

"Graeme." The director said, "Do not make me go through that again Agent Strauss." He said with a warning in his voice.

The director was getting angry now too. I needed to do something to resolve the situation to help Agent Graeme. The director looked at me, "Agent Morgan, when did you look at those case files?" He asked, clearly trying to dissolve the situation too.

"Paul, what does that matter? The notation has been in there since the first time I saw those files." So Agent Graeme knew the director on a first name basis. I hoped that didn't mean that she had influence on whether or not this would cause me to lose my job.

This was serious. It was an unspoken pact in the bureau that no one ever testified for the defendant of an FBI shooting; ever. It could be really bad for me. It could be even worse for her. I just wished I could help her. I bet she never expected she would have to deal with something like this from another FBI agent. I really needed to fix this.

"Jesse, why don't you let me bring you somewhere else? You're too close to this." The director said.

**Jesse's POV**

"What? That's ne'er stopped ye afore! Why is this case any different?" I growled, my accent had come threw a long time ago, and there was no pulling it back now.

I could tell he was looking at me. He tried to put his hand on mine, but I pulled it away. I needed it to help me feel the vibrations. "Sorry." I could tell he had temporarily forgotten I was blind. I wish I could. "Do you really want me to open up that bag of worms here? Do you really want them to know that?" I could tell he was talking about my depression.

"Fine." I got up, and started moving towards the door. I held one hand up against the wall to tell my way, I reached the doorknob, and opened it. When I shut the door, I said, "Fuck!" Apparently I was louder than I intended because people stopped working. "Sorry,' I mumbled, and moved towards the stairs. I counted down the steps, and headed towards Penelope Garcia's office. I hadn't seen her in a while, and hoped she could calm me down. I really wished I had taken Daemon instead of James.

**Derek's POV**

After the door shut, we heard Agent Graeme say, "Fuck." I bet it was louder than she intended it to be, because she paused, and then mumbled something.

"Director, not to be rude, but there's something you're not telling me." I looked at him, and could tell he was trying to figure out how to say it.

Before he responded, he looked around the room, "Thank you Strauss. You can leave." I could tell she was offended, but even she could not go against the director. After she shut the door, he said, "This team is important to me. You do a lot more good than the trouble you cause. I would like to keep this team together." He paused. I wondered why he would say that if he transferred J.J. "Besides Jennifer, she was needed elsewhere more than she was needed here. But I did giver her back to you."

I interrupted him, "I beg to differ, but I cannot change your decision." I could not get mad at the director. That would definitely lead to me getting fired.

He looked at me again, "I respect that. I encourage my agents to have differing opinions. But that is not the matter here. Jesse Graeme has been a wonderful asset to the FBI, even on days she doesn't have eyesight." Both Hotch and I looked at him confused, and he nodded like he was agreeing with himself, "she might get mad at me for saying this, but well…you need to know. Some days she can see. As of late, she can hardly ever see. If she goes for long periods without eyesight, it causes depression. I'm worried about her. She is going on a….vacation in a few days, but after that, Agent Morgan, I was wondering if you would keep an eye on her. She is one of the best agents I have ever seen. Back when I was a field agent, she saved my ass more than I care to count. I was the first on the scene of the shooting that day, and was promoted because I saved her, and captured Kenneth. Andrew, the shooter, got away. He still haunts her to this day. No one knows where he is, but somehow he finds ways to torment her." He paused. He didn't know how to continue from here.

I looked over at Hotch, and he finally spoke up, "when she was fifteen he kidnapped her and tortured her." Oh fuck. I put my head in my hands; I had royally screwed this one up.

I took a minute to think, and then I looked at the director, "there had to be a clerical error. I looked at the hard copy of the file. Garcia, our technical analyst, was busy at that point, so I got the files myself. It had no notation on the file. Our electronic system was down that day."

"All right. Jesse will want a copy of the transcripts. She might already have access to them, but offer to get them for her yourself. If you're going to be watching her, you'll want to get on her good side. I'll think about what to do about this. Right now, no mark will be on your record. Just look after Jesse until I say so. You don't need to sleep at her house, but just bring her to work, and back."

"But I thought you said she doesn't work here that often."

He looked at me, "let me take care of that." He chuckled, and then we went to talk about some of our recent cases. Mostly, he asked questions and nodded. When he left, he said, "I'm going to talk to her. Go find her in a half hour."

I nodded, and he shut the door. Hotch looked at me, "You testified about this case two weeks ago?"

I nodded, he had looked at the case with me. "How did I miss this Hotch? He had some information on another case we needed, and had been working hard at being a model prisoner. It was supposed to be an easy trade. He gave us the information, and he went to a mental hospital for a while, then would get released upon a physicians request."

"I don't know. We talked to a few other people about it, and none of them noticed." He shook his head, "I wonder why he asked you to look after her. What do you think of her?" We talked for awhile longer, and then we both went back to work. The whole time, I couldn't get Jesse Graeme off my mind.

**Jesse's POV**

I finally made my way to Penelope's office. I turned the handle, and went in. "My Scottish Warrior!" I heard her scream.

"My computer goddess, it is always a pleasure to see you." I smiled; Penelope was already making me smile.

"What brings you to our lowly domain; we haven't seen you for months!" She rushed over to me, grabbed my arm, and forced me to sit.

How was I going to tell her this? She knew some of the details of what Aaron did to me, but not anything before the shooting. "The getaway driver of the shooting; one of the agents on your team testified at his parole hearing."

"Who? What? When? Why? I'm going to severely injure them!" I chuckled, she could never really threaten anyone.

"Derek Morgan, about two weeks ago, I don't know why, and he testified at Kenneth's parole hearing." At the end, my voice grew quiet. This whole thing was making my depression worse.

Penelope started pacing, and was mumbling to herself. It took her a few minutes, but then she paused and looked at me. "Hun, how long has it been since you saw anything?" She whispered.

"I saw for about ten hours yesterday, but other than that, around the last time I came to visit you."

She came over and hugged me, "oh Scotty, I'm so sorry."

I couldn't help but laugh, "You're the only one who can call me Scotty."

She held me for a minute, and then let me go, "Where's that demon of yours?"

"You're very punny today my hacker queen. He's with James on some other floor."

She laughed, "Scaring some G-man"

I nodded. "I've got some new computers with new programs that will go even faster than yours. I can give the FBI a really good deal; for you, half off, for everyone else in the bureau, ten percent off."

"So you just came here to do business, no social visits?" She pouted.

"Ha! I had to come here with a present didn't I? Everywhere else on the market they charge almost double what I do!"

I could tell she was looking at me, "purely legal right?"

I really laughed this time, "for the last time Penelope, I am not a mobster. My family is not the Scottish mafia, or anything of the sort. We are just a family that goes back further than most families."

She rapped the back of my head; she didn't care that I was over a foot taller than her, "I do not believe that for a minute. I have helped you out of more embarrassing situations than I care to count. Most people in the bureau don't even know you exist. Most people think you are some sort of legend. I even heard your brother call you 'one of the Fey Folk.' Now I had to look it up, but most people think you're myth. That is the definition of the perfect mobster."

I laughed again, "Penelope! I promise I am not a mobster! Every deal I bring you if perfectly legal! Please don't hit me again!" I was still laughing at her. She has one of the most vivid imaginations I know. "Now please, can you tell me what Agent Morgan was thinking when he testified at the trial?"

She stepped away, and went over to her desk. "Let me look. Maybe I can tell when he looked at the case files."

I waved my hand, and pinched the bridge of my nose, "that's ok. Just tell me if there is any way this could be fixed." I turned to where she was, and heard her typing on her keys.

"It looks like Morgan testified that until he could get further information his recommendation was that the prisoner be transferred to a mental hospital."

"That's good! But why a mental hospital? I thought his therapy wasn't working."

"He was working at it, but his therapist suggested that he go into a secure mental hospital. They just needed a recommendation from the FBI because, well…it involved two FBI agents." At the last part, she saunded apologetic.

I paused to take that all in, "So, he could still remain in prison? I remember that he was claiming he had a bomb on him, but no one ever found proof of that. Was that his basis for needing therapy?"

"Uh huh. But Derek said this was only an initial profile. He would need more time to give a full recommendation."

I sighed. This was good news, so why didn't I feel happy? "Can you tell him that? I need to go."

"To the gym?" I nodded. "Should I tell James when he comes looking for you?"

"No. Tell him to go home. I'll take a cab. Just tell him to bring Daemon down." I moved towards the door as it opened.

"Garcia? I have a question. Oh, hello. I'm Emily Prentiss."

She held her hand out for me to shake, but I couldn't tell where it was, "I'm blind. Sorry."

She withdrew her hand, "oh, I'm sorry. Were you leaving? I could bring you somewhere."

I gave her a half smile and nodded, "just down to the gym."

"Oh you work here?" I nodded, "I'm Agent Jesse Graeme. Do you work for the BAU?"

"Yes." I turned back and told Penelope goodbye. "Get back to me about those computers ok?" She huffed, and we left. Emily hooked her arm around mine, and started describing the surroundings to me. "How do you know what to do?"

"I once had a friend who was blind; until I moved away."

"I'm sorry." We continued to talk as she brought me down to the gym, and offered to spar with me.

It was about ten minutes later, when Paul walked in, and asked Emily to leave. "Shit. What did I do? Well besides yelling at all your agents. But I made Penelope Garcia happy." I said that hoping to distract him. I could tell my depression was getting worse as the adrenaline high wore off. I needed to get out of here and hopefully go for a drink.

He came over, and sat next to me. "I need you to hear me out. Ok?" I nodded, and he continued, "You're coming back to work. You are going to work for the BAU. You will travel with them when you have sight. When you don't, you will work from here. You can take Daemon whenever you travel. Your doctor is going to try to get those bullet fragments out. He called James earlier today, and we set it all up. You will get help for your depression. We need you as a friend. We could never lose you. Plus, it's high time you came back to work. It could help. You have a month, and then you better start showing up on a regular basis. Don't even ask me what will happen if you don't. You will answer to Agent Hotchner. If you have a problem, you answer to me, not Strauss. Ok?"

I was starting to feel nauseous by now. I just nodded, and put my head between my legs. "Yes. It's not like I have a choice right?"

He put his hand on my arm, "I'm sorry Jesse. I'm getting a lot of pressure from the Department of Defense. I held out as long as I could. Get some help. If I don't hear from you in three weeks, I'll send someone after you. Take that time to…adjust. You do have training to be a profiler don't you?"

"Yes. I won't pick cases though. I'm only going to deal with the one we're assigned. Someone else can do that." The nausea was slowly going away.

"All right. If you don't feel better in an hour or two, send someone to come get me, and I'll bring you home. When you're done here, call me, or call a cab. I'm sorry Jesse." It seemed like everyone was saying that to me these days.


	6. Chapter 6

**Derek's POV**

As I walked to the gym to find Agent Graeme, I saw the director walking out. He looked at me, and almost laughed. "Go talk to your newest team member. I'm going to go talk to SSA Hotchner."

"Is this why we were called to D.C today?"

He nodded, "Yes. You all can go back to work. Jesse won't join your team for about a month. When she does, I'll expect you all back here for a few weeks before you return to Quantico. There are some….things I want her to teach you all. I'm sure there are things you can teach her to. Plus she needs to tell you the full story of her past if you are to ever trust her."

I looked at him, "How is she going to work on our team if she's blind?"

He laughed, "I'm not going to deal with that. I'll let her tell you when she comes to work. I'll tell you when that is; I want you to pick her up. You seem to get more of a response out of her than other people lately. If she gives you a hard time, just give her a hard time back."

I nodded, and he walked away, "Is that what you call it," I mumbled under my breath as I opened the gym doors. I wondered how good she was.

It took me a couple minutes to find her, even though the gym was almost deserted. I saw her near the punching bag. I could hear her grunting with each hit and kick. I looked at her, and saw that she could function better than most people, even if she was blind. I stopped and reminded myself once again that we don't profile team members.

I stood there a few minutes more, just watching her. If she got off course with the bag, she would whistle, and move towards it again. I assumed she was using the echoes of her whistle.

"Do you need a ride home?" I finally broke the silence. I saw her jump, and mumble "shit."

She moved towards me, "Don't ever do that again. You announce your presence when near a blind person; unless you want to give me a heart attack." She moved towards her bag, and I saw her dog next to it. "Daemon, get up." Immediately he moved to her side, putting his nose in her palm. "Maybe; I don't know. Do you even know where I live?"

**Jesse POV**

I don't know why I was even asking him that. It's not like I was going to let him take me home. He made me…..nervous? No, that's not the right word. I don't know what he makes me feel. But Daemon seemed at ease around him. And even if I wasn't, that was good enough for me. Daemon could tell when someone meant to hurt me, even when I couldn't; which was rarely.

"No I don't, but I'm sure you could give me directions. Maybe even tell me about yourself, seeing as how you're going to be on the team." I glared at the direction he was in, how did he know that?

"No. I can just take a cab. I need to go to my doctor's anyway." I snapped. I really didn't want to deal with other people right now.

"Is everything alright?" His voice softened at that. I didn't want, or need, his pity.

"Yes, now just call me a cab." He grabbed my bag, and walked with me.

"No. Just let me help you. It's not like you have a choice anyway, your dog is following me, not you." I heard him chuckle, "What's his name anyways?"

"Daemon," when I said his name, his ears perked up, and I whistled softly to let him know it was alright. "Fine; but just this once."

"Ok, do you want to go home before your doctor's? I am officially your chauffer for the day; director's orders." I could hear the smile at that, even though I stiffened up when he said the last part. It seemed as if Paul and I weren't getting on as of late.

It looked like I didn't have a choice. Plus, if we were going to be working together, I needed someone to work well with. "Fine. Take my arm," I grumbled. He did, and we left.


	7. Chapter 7

**Jesse POV**

When we got to my doctor's I told him to go home. I didn't know how long this was going to take, and I didn't want to have to explain anything to him.

"No. You still need a ride home. Plus, I'm pretty sure they don't allow dogs into medical centers. We can wait in the lobby."

He was almost as bullheaded as me, "Agent Morgan. Go home. I do not need you here." We had arrived in the lobby by now. I knew that if someone wasn't here to watch Daemon for me, they would take him to the children's floor.

He laughed, "Call me Morgan; or Derek. If we're going to be working together, we should both drop the formalities now."

"Fine," I mumbled. "Call me anything you want. I don't respond to 'Jess' though; never have, never will."

"All right anything you want." So he was playing coy now, "do you mind if I call you Jesse?"

"Sure." The nurse called my name, and I walked in.

**Derek POV**

I think I actually got a smile out of her there; or as close to a smile as I had seen all day. I started to pet Daemon, and he leaned against my leg as I sat down. I really hoped Jesse would start to like me. It would definitely make things a lot easier once we started working together.

* * *

I heard my phone ring, and turned over to answer it, "'Lo?"

"Agent Morgan, I have the director on the line here. Would you speak with him?" I heard a female voice ask.

I sat up, "Sure. Put him on."

It took a couple of seconds, but then I heard the director say, "Derek? Do you remember how when we talked, I told you that when Jesse was coming back to work, I wanted you to pick her up?"

"Yes. That was a month and a half ago. Is everything ok?"

"Oh yeah; there were just a few complications I had to work out. But today's the day. Do you know where she lives?"

I said yes, and then we talked a few minutes more. He told me to be careful with her, she was going to be a problem for awhile, and then he hung up.

I drove over to her apartment, and the doorman let me in. He recognized me from the last time I was here, and I also think he noticed my gun through my jacket. I would have to remember that little fact for later. Maybe I could ask him if he ever noticed how many weapons Jesse carried. I had counted three last time I saw her, but I'm sure she carried more.

I went up to her floor, and noticed her door was open. I heard someone mumbling inside, and slowly opened the door. "Jesse? Is everything alright? The door was open." I waited a few seconds, and then called for Daemon. When he didn't come, I got worried. I pulled my gun, and entered her apartment. I checked each and every room. I was on automatic now, just hoping that Jesse was alright. I opened the bedroom door a little, and then a knife came flying next to my head. "FREEZE! FBI!" I yelled, and kicked her door open.

**Jesse POV**

I bolted up in bed; I was sweating like crazy again. I was dreaming of the time that I was kidnapped when I was fifteen. I looked over to the knife I had under my bed and I knew that tonight was the night. I remembered my dream, and what else Andrew had done to me. Before I did anything, I realized something was different about this dream. Instead of it taking the course it always does, something woke me up. I reached under my pillow and grabbed my dirk. It was a special type of knife that I was excellent at throwing. I heard my door open, and I threw the knife next to where the person's head was. "You move another inch and the next one will go through your ear."

I heard them yell, "FREEZE! FBI!"

"Oh Fuck." I knew I was going to be in trouble for throwing a knife at another agent. "Who the hell are you, and who gave you permission to enter my apartment?" He turned the light on, and I immediately wished he hadn't. I was still hung over from last night.

**Derek POV**

"Jesse? Are you alright?" I immediately holstered my gun. It seemed every time we saw each other, she was mad. She looked over at me, and I was immediately confused. I could tell she could see, "you can see?" Wow, that was stating the obvious. What was it about her that made me instantly dumb?

"Yes; long story. Now answer my question." I saw she had grabbed her gun this time. I slowly held up my hands.

"Put your gun away. I'm not here to hurt you. I just came to drive you to work."

She put her gun away, and moved towards me. I kept my hands up to keep her calm. I noticed she was only wearing a shirt. I was thankful it was too big for her so it covered her enough. Immediately, I felt my pants tighten. Oh God, I felt like a thirteen year old again. I severely hoped she didn't notice. I backed up so she wouldn't brush against me as she walked by, and she pulled her knife out of the wall. "What day is it?"

I looked at her face again, and could tell she was hung over. "Monday the 8th of April. It's sunny, and mildly chilly out." She snorted, a wonderful noise, and my pants grew even tighter. This was not good. I couldn't have this happen every time she made a move if we were going to be coworkers. I immediately started thinking of worse things than how that shirt touched her thighs in just the right spot. Shit, that didn't work at all. I really needed to get laid. Hopefully, this was just that; need. "I'm going to go wait in your kitchen. I'll make some breakfast. Ok?"

She nodded, and moved towards her bathroom. I turned around so fast I saw stars; anything to make sure I wouldn't see how that shirt touched the back of her thighs. That would kill me here and now. I walked out to her kitchen, and started searching for food I knew how to make. I was pretty good at cooking, but she had some pretty eccentric foods. I rifled through her fridge, and saw some milk. I looked in her cabinet and found pancake mix. Good, the perfect hang over food. I heated her stove up, and started cooking.

**Jesse POV**

I turned the shower on, and took off my clothes. I looked in the mirror, and assessed my body. When I could see, I did this to compare how my body was aging. I saw the scars; lines running over my body. I traced the one coming from my stomach, up to my breast. It stopped just below my nipple. Then I looked at the one on my lower abdomen, and reminded what that scar gave me. I smiled at that thought, and then turned around to look at my back. There were so many scars on my back, that I couldn't count them all. I couldn't even trace them all. When one scar stopped, another started. I tried not to remember how I had gotten those.

I got in the shower, and turned the heat up. I started to wonder at what Paul was going to make me do now that I was back to work. I knew that I was going to work with the BAU, but I also knew that there were other things I could do with my…skills.

**Derek POV**

She came out of her room, and her hair was all wet. My groin twitched again, and I chastised myself. I could not think like that about a coworker. "Feel better?" She nodded, and moved towards the pile of pancakes on her kitchen island. She put about four on her plate, and covered them in syrup. She motioned for me to sit and eat some too. Daemon came over to me, and whined for some food.

"Don't give him any. He's a mooch. Last time I gave him pancakes, he got syrup all over himself. It took me three hours to give him a bath."

When we finished eating, we walked out to my car. She looked at it, looked at me, and then started laughing. It was nice. She was loud, but it sounded like bells. "They give you SUVs?" Between each word she was laughing.

"What's so funny about SUVs?" Daemon started bouncing around; he came over and started licking my hand. "Why's he so excited?"

She looked at me, and slowly calmed down, "I haven't laughed like that in ages. Daemon reacts to my emotions. It's funny because my family in Scotland had a hand in making those SUVs, and the director probably doesn't even know that. He tries to minimize the benefit I make with my company from the FBI. In return, he gave my family even more money."

"I don't get it."

"Oh well, if you knew Paul's and my history together, you'd fully understand. We've been in a major power struggle for years. I love him, but he can be a real ass most of the time. Like when my husband died, he wouldn't let me quit the FBI and move back to Scotland. I still haven't decided if that was a good thing yet, but it remains to be seen. Besides, he has helped me a lot since then." That was the first time I heard her talk about her husband's death while she wasn't mad.

"You really loved him." I pulled up to the parking lot of the Hoover building, and an agent came to park the car. It seems traveling with someone who is in the director's favor had its benefits.

"Yes," she replied curtly. "I'm going to go see Paul. Your team should already be here." She whistled, and Daemon ran to her side.

She swept in the doors, and security let her by. It seemed as if she had connections too. I had to wait in line with everyone else.

**Jesse POV**

I walked right by security. The last time they tried to stop me I almost broke one of their arms. I snorted at that memory; it caused most of them to be afraid of me. I went to the elevator, and Daemon ran in with me. He sat on his back legs, and licked my hand. We went up to the top floor, and by that time, everyone else had gotten off. The door pinged, and Daemon ran out. He loved elevators, but he was always afraid of getting stuck in the doors.

I went over to Paul's secretary, and asked if he was busy. She said no, and that he was expecting me. I walked right in. "Paul. Why did you have to pick today to make me start work?"

He looked at me, and I could see the question in his eyes, "Today's not the anniversary of their death. That's not for a few months. I made sure that you would have work off on that day. What's the significance of today?"

"It would be her tenth birthday today," I whispered as I sat down.

"Oh. I'm sorry Jesse. I forgot." He looked at me, trying to tell how hung over I was. He knew that on the anniversary of their birthdays and deaths that I went out and got extremely drunk.

"I can work. The lights are bright, but that's from the hangover. The surgery fixed that." That's why it took me so long to start work. The day after Morgan dropped me off at my house, I went in for surgery to get some of the bullet fragments removed from my brain. They got the one on my optic nerve off, and they moved the one on my occipital lobe. It's stuck in there, but not causing damage. As a result of the fragments moving over the years, they can get more and more out. There was only one left in there now.

"Good. You'll start right away. I want you to train them. Do you remember what you trained me in?"

I was caught in a flashback. I was with Ian, and we were training Paul. Our "specialty" was teaching people to detach from their current situation; to put their mind in another place, and to withstand incredible amounts of pain. Ian had taken it too far, and had started to torture people. Paul was strapped to a chair, and barely conscious. I patched him up, and made sure he was okay. Ian and I almost split up over that. But then I got pregnant, and knew I wasn't emotionally stable enough to raise a child on my own. Paul was one of the people that had the bad luck to be taught by Ian, and not me. We realized that Ian has only tortured Paul, but we could never figure out why.

Then, I was back in his office. I could no longer picture the exact techniques I had used, could no longer see Paul's fresh wounds. "Do you still have the scars?" I hoped this question would get him to say I wouldn't have to do this.

"Yes. That wasn't any of your teachings though. That was Ian; the stupid bastard." I stiffened; even though Ian had done some bad things in his life, I still loved him. Paul looked at me, and could see the pain in my eyes, "Sorry. I know you loved him, but he screwed me up a lot for a few years. I eventually forgave him, but he screwed you up a little too though." I nodded, and tried not to let a tear fall.

"I'm g-going down to the gym."

"Jesse, come on. I'm sorry. Please? Talk to me?" He pleaded, I just kept walking, and Daemon followed me. I took the stairs slowly; I didn't want anyone to see me crying.

When I reached the gym, I looked up to the mats lined against the wall. They were about eight feet high. I climbed up, and Daemon went over to a dark corner. I fell asleep as soon as I heard Daemon start to snore.

**Derek POV**

I entered the gym, and noticed the rest of my team was already there. "Morgan, do you know what this is about?" I heard Reid ask.

I looked over to him, "Well, I thought it was to meet our new team member. She's…." I paused, trying to find a word that wouldn't bias the rest of my team.

"Temper mental," the director said as he walked in, "at the very least."

"Was that the blind woman who we saw about a month ago? I bet she's still pissed at Morgan. She was nice. Very good in the gym," Prentiss said.

The director chuckled, "to say the least. She has an I.Q level of 139, bordering on being a genius. She used to work with me in a very…secret part of the Department of Defense. Her family is a part of the Scottish mob. Everything they do in the U.S is legal though. She has dual citizenship between here and there. The company she owns does work with almost every company involved in our government. She is very connected. If she wasn't working for us, she would be a very bad threat to this country. Given that, she is the most patriotic person I've ever seen. She knows multiple languages. So many, no one knows what languages she doesn't know. And she has a photographic memory."

Reid looked up, "Do you mean eidetic? I have one too." The director nodded.

"She has certain characteristics that could match all of you. That way, you can understand her more. She hasn't worked with a team in a while, but I think that should help."

I looked at Hotch. We knew more about her history than they did, and didn't know whether to tell them. The director apparently knew what we were thinking, "she has an interesting history. I'll let you ask her yourselves. I don't know why she isn't here. She said this was where she'd be."

Just as he said that, someone moved from behind him, "I'm right here." We all jumped, we hadn't even seen the person come in. It took a lot to scare a FBI agent, but it seemed this person could do it with ease. I realized it was Jesse, and the look on her face was scary.


	8. Chapter 8

**Jesse POV**

I heard the door open, and a few people talking. I didn't listen to what they were saying; I looked over the side. I could see Emily, Agent Hotchner, Rossi, and another person I assumed was Dr. Reid. A few minutes later, Derek walked in. I heard them talking about me, and then the director walked in. He started describing me, and then I heard him question where I was. I dropped down, and made sure to bend my knees. I stood up, and said, "I'm right here." I saw all the agents jump, including the director.

He turned around, and I heard him mumble, "Fuck. I forgot how scary you can be." I glared at him.

"I'm not teaching them that. He's Italian; too old." I pointed to Rossi. I noticed that he had a little more gut then the last time I saw him. I pointed to Agent Hotchner, "he has a kid. No. You know if anything goes wrong, it could have devastating effects. The emotional problems alone could damage the kid." Then I looked over to the skinny kid, "He's too young, too skinny, and a genius? Eidetic memory? Two people working together with that could be dangerous. After the training, he'd never forget it and always resent me. That could be dangerous for me if we were to ever work together. Emily over there pity's me. When we were sparring, she was letting me win. If we were ever in a shootout, she'd be too busy protecting me, not herself. Then I'd have to protect her. You know how good of a shot I am, and I could potentially miss an opening. And Derek over there? He practically broke into my apartment this morning. He was too worried about my dog the entire time we were here. I profiled them all in ten seconds, with hardly reading their files. Their rule is to never profile a team member. Just by the information I've said here, they're not going to trust me for awhile. So no; I'm not going to work with them. I'm self destructive Paul; not mutually destructive." I whistled, and Daemon came running out of the corner, and barked. He looked at Paul, and then back at me. He moved in front of me, and started growling. I looked back at Derek before I opened the door, "I quit. Stay here. Lunch is coming for you all in about ten minutes. Sorry you had to get dragged down here for nothing. Paul, if you cause any problems for me, I will use all the favors I have left. Then, I'll flee the country." I knew Paul thought I was threatening him; good.

**Derek POV**

The director went into the corner, and started making phone calls as soon as she left. Jesse was right, food came within ten minutes. We pulled some mats down, and I saw a piece of paper fall off the one Jesse was on. I started reading it, and silently called the team to come read it with me. We all sat down on the mat.

_Hotch, Emily, Derek, Dr. Reid, and Rossi,_

_I am sorry for the things I said. What Paul wants me to do isn't ethically right. It would involve treating you worse than an UNSUB. It would mean I would have to purposefully cause you pain, and to make you relive the worst memories of your life. You all seem nice; I don't want to wreck that. Derek, thank you for fixing the trial. I'm sorry I threw my knife at you. Emily, only a tiny bit of what I said was true. If we worked together, I would trust you. Dr. Reid, I respect your work. It would be an interesting experience to work with you. I think I would learn a lot. Rossi, it was a hell of a lot of fun working with you last time. You know the bare minimum about what Paul wants me to teach. You know how far it went the last time I did it. Ian made mistakes and Paul suffered because of that. Ask Paul to show you his scars. Hotch, it wasn't the ideal experience how we met. I had heard of your wife. She was nice. I'm sorry about her death. Be thankful you have your son left. Spend every minute you can with him. _

_Tell Paul I say to go screw himself. He's letting his power go to his head. He received some information lately that made him revisit his memories of what my husband did to him. He'll be ok soon._

_If we do end up working together, I'm sorry. _

As soon as we finished reading it, the door burst open. "Where is he?" Jesse screamed.

We all pointed to the little room on the side of the gym, and she stormed in there. Daemon came over by us. "You labeled me a fucking TERRORIST?" we heard her scream. "After all I have done for you and this country, you labeled me a fucking terrorist? How could you do that Paul? I stopped Ian from almost killing you! I was going to let you charge him! I stayed in the country after he died for you! I helped this country even when I wanted to kill myself! You are director because of what I did! This morning, I didn't kill myself because I knew you needed me today. I love you like a brother, but this? This is going too far." Her voice broke in multiple points while she was yelling.

She walked out to where we were, and I could tell she was trying to stop her hands from shaking. "Daemon, come on boy. Time to go home; back to Scotland." She wouldn't look at any of us. We didn't know what to say. Daemon didn't move though, he just looked at her.

**Jesse POV**

I can't believe I just said that. I wasn't going to tell anyone that, ever. I crossed my arms over my chest, and wouldn't look at any of them. I knew they must pity me, and I just couldn't see that right now.

"Jesse," I heard Paul whisper. He moved to put his hand on my arm. I went over and sat on the floor, and buried my head in my hands.

"Paul just don't. You know this was too far. I know Ian screwed you up. He screwed me up too. I hate him every day for it. But without him, I wouldn't have made it to sixteen. You have to move on from what he did to you. Don't make me do it to these people. Please." I looked up to him, and I could see exhaustion on his face.

He looked at everyone else, and switched to Latin as he came over to talk to me, "_I need them all prepared. The way the react to things, isn't good for the team. They're starting to become dangerous to the other members of the team. I tried putting in another agent for a week before I thought of you, and they wouldn't accept him. It was subconsciously, but it was still there. They need to figure out how to function with other people again. Plus, it would be great if they could withstand a little more pain."_

"_Do you really think what I would do to them would help? For a long time after what Ian did, you resented me for staying with him. I tried to understand, but it took you forever to learn how to deal with it properly. If even one thing goes wrong, they could never recover. Besides, I stopped teaching after what happened to you. I disbanded that part of the company, and gave it to my cousins in Scotland. If I did this, many people would be mad at me. Those people would come for you too. Take me off the FBI watch list, and I'll leave the country. You won't ever have to deal with me again." _I looked around the room to the rest of the agents. They had pulled down the mats, and were sitting on them. I saw Derek had the note next to him, and was looking at me. I gave him a slight nod, and looked at Dr. Reid. _"You understand Latin."_

He looked at me, "I wasn't trying to eavesdrop. I just understand root word meanings. I barely understood what you were saying. I can leave the room if you want." I knew he was lying. He understood our whole conversation.

I shook my head, "It's fine." I looked over to Rossi and Emily, "What languages do you understand?"

Rossi spoke up, "We both understand Italian. As I understand it, the director does not." He knew I wanted to tell them something.

I switched to Italian, _"hide the note. I know you read it. Act like you didn't. Tell the others."_ They nodded, and I turned back to Paul. I switched to Russian, "_So?"_

"_Work here. I'm sorry for what I did. I don't resent you. I still need you. The FBI still needs you. I consider you my sister, which is why I have complete faith that you can do this, while keeping them sane. This training could help them so much more in their field. It would mean they could learn to not empathize, and to not pity a person. You always say people shouldn't pity someone else, even when they know the full story; this could eliminate it, even if it is with only a few people. Plus, Daemon loves them already. You owe me Jesse, it's about time I collected."_

I looked at him, and knew he was right. I still didn't want to do it though, "_They'd need to stay at my summer place. That way we can have quiet, and space. I'd need permission to take them anywhere I wanted. Plus, I'd need permission from them to do it." _I resented that he was making me do this. It was ironic I suppose, years ago he had threatened to imprison me if I ever taught anyone this again. Now, he was actually forcing me to do so.

I knew that doing this would cause some major problems. "All right; you can pretend that never happened." They all looked at me, a little confused. I stood up, and so did everyone else.

"Jesse, take off your shirt."

Immediately, I spun around, "No! I'm not showing them! I'll teach them, but I won't tell them anything about that!"

"Do it. Don't blindside them with that when they're in training. That puts them at a disadvantage. Show them now, or else risk them getting hurt later." He knew that I would do anything to make sure someone else would not get hurt.

We stared at each other for a few minutes, and nobody said a word. "You leave Penelope out of this. She doesn't come anywhere near us for the next month, if not more. Not even a phone call or I pull the plug immediately. You give me a month. I could do it in two weeks, but they'll need a week to recuperate. If I need more time, I'll tell you. They all stay there the whole time. Agent Hotchner can leave to see his son. We'll do most of the training at night. My cousins do not hear a word of this." At each condition I paused to think of more, "My niece is coming in three months. I get time off to see her. I do not have to talk to Strauss, ever," at this, I heard Hotch laugh. "I only report to him, and you. Anything else and I'm on the first plane out of here. Got it?"

He stared at me to see if I was lying, "Well it's nice to see you are truly an American; giving me an ultimatum. But yes, I got it. Now show them all of your scars. _All_ of them."

I started mumbling my complaints in Gaelic, and damming Paul to Hell for all the problems he has caused me. I turned around, and pulled my shirt off. Then I unclasped my bra, but held it up in the front. I grabbed my hair, and moved that in front too. I held that up so they could see the scars on my neck. I heard them all gasp at the same time. Sometimes, I forgot how horrible my scars looked to other people. I looked over at Paul, and could see the pity in his eyes. I looked at him longer, and could also see him trying to apologize. I nodded, and bent my head again so they could see the scars on my neck better.

**Derek POV**

We had heard the two talking the whole time. The only time I could understand them was when they were speaking in English, but Spencer tried to translate the Latin for us. It wasn't exactly what they were saying, but we got the gist of the message. The Prentiss came over, and took the note. She gave it to me, and whispered, "Hide it. Act like we haven't read it." I nodded, and she went back to where she was sitting.

The director and Jesse talked a little more, but in English this time. We all pretended like we couldn't hear them, but it was an awkward situation all the same. Then Jesse turned around, and pulled her shirt off. Before we could turn away, we saw the scars on her back. We all gasped, and I heard Emily whisper, "Oh Jesse. How did this happen?"

Jesse kept her head bent, "No. You don't get to know that. I will tell you eventually, but not here. Not like this. I need some privacy. Look. This is the only time you will get to asses them all." Her voice was strained, and her posture was stiff. We could tell she didn't want to do this.

I hadn't looked away from her back the whole time. There were so many scars; it was hard to find a few inches of skin that wasn't marked. The biggest one though, started at her left shoulder blade, and curved around her back, and seemed to end in the front. It cut across her spine, with a little jump to keep her from getting paralyzed. The rest of her back had hash marks all over. It looked like a knife had done this, or maybe a whip. She had a little scar on her neck. It looked like some sort of symbol, but with a line in it. "What's that on your neck?"

"A Celtic symbol for property ownership, with a line cut through to zero it out." I looked to her head. She wasn't turning around yet, until we had asked all of our questions.

I looked back to her back, and saw that all the scars ended just above her pants line. I was glad she didn't have to take those off too. I didn't know what she would do then.

The director reached over and took her shirt from her hand. I noticed little pock marks on both of her hands. They looked like the diameter of nails. Oh shit, she had been nailed to something. I hadn't noticed these before, but she was obviously being forced to show us now. Her left hand had two fingers that weren't straight. They were her ring and middle finger. Just the tips were a little angled. It looked like a bad break that didn't heal correctly.

Reid finally spoke up, "You're left handed." She nodded.

"My fingers were broken, and not set correctly. I still have movement in those fingers, but not as much."

Rossi looked over at her, "They've healed well Jesse. A lot better since the last time I saw them. Do they still hurt?" He had seen these before? How did Rossi know her?

She turned around to look at him, and we saw the one long scar on her front. It was the one that seemed to connect to her back, but I could see they were different lengths. It seemed to end at her bra line. She reached back to clasp her bra, and stood there, "Not as much. A couple of years ago a plastic surgeon fixed most of them up for me. I don't even feel the whip marks any more. The only one that hurts is the knife mark." I could see the sorrow in her eyes. I looked at her stomach again, and saw another line, just above her pants.

Hotch noticed it as well, "You had a C-Section? Haley had one too."

We could see the far off look in her eyes, "Yes, my little girl would be ten today," she paused, and was lost in thought for awhile. "Hotch I'll alter your training so you can be home for a few hours after your son gets off school. You'll be tired, but you'll see him."

"Thanks. Don't give me any special treatment though. Whatever you put the rest of the team through, I can go through."

"You think I'm going to torture you?" Her eyes opened really ride, and she turned back to the director. "You see? I haven't even started yet, and they're already thinking the worst. I'm not doing it."

He looked at her, "You protest anymore, and I'll make Ms. Garcia join. Then I'll call your cousins."

"So? What do I care? My cousins scare you! They'd tare you limb from limb before they'd do anything I didn't like. There's this thing called loyalty Paul, you should learn some." I doubt she realized she was contradicting herself form earlier.

She reached over to his hands, and he flinched. She pulled her shirt out of his hands, but he grabbed it again, and it tore. "Fuck! Now I don't have another good shirt here!" She went over to her bag, and I saw a drop of sweat roll down her back, and into her pants. I felt my pants tighten again, but then I thought of what Hotch had insinuated. That immediately solved my problem.

Paul remained calm, "You know that I know that you have tons of stuff stashed all over the building. You'll find another. Let them look until they stop staring. Then, they won't stare again. Make one more step towards the door, and Garcia joins."

I heard Daemon growl, and he moved towards Paul. I hooked my finger in his collar, so he couldn't get in trouble. Jesse looked back at him, and then at me. She had a pleading look in her eyes, and then she looked back at Paul, "fine. Anyone gets hurt and we stop immediately." He nodded, and she turned back to us.

"I'm going to teach you what it's like to feel blind; to double your reaction time. I'm going to teach you how to really control your emotions. I'm going to teach you how to control your level of pain." She pulled up her pant leg, and we saw more scars on her knee, and ankle. These looked like surgical scars though. She grabbed a knife from the holder on her thigh, and pulled her pant leg down. Then she grabbed her shirt, and tore of a strip. She wrapped it around her lower arm, and tied it tight.

"Jesse, what are you doing?" I said. Was she going to cut herself? Was she going to do worse? She looked me in the eye, and then cut her palm. It didn't bleed as much as it would have if she hadn't tied the cloth around her arm. She didn't even flinch, "Didn't that hurt?" I moved toward her to stop the bleeding, but she did it herself.

While she was bandaging it, she said, "Not as much as it would if I cut you. I don't feel as much pain as others. It comes in handy in certain…situations. This is only exacerbated by the fact that my bones are harder than normal. It takes much more to break my bones. I can't make that happen to you, but I can help you control how much pain you can feel. It will be hard to teach you in two weeks, but I can do it. Go home; pack comfortable clothes for three weeks. No professional clothing; workout clothes. Meet me here in an hour, and we'll drive to my place."


	9. Chapter 9

**Jesse POV**

I drove the first SUV, and Derek drove the second. I had Rossi and Hotch in my car, Derek had taken Emily and Dr. Reid in his. Daemon was in my car, in the backseat. He was practically sitting on Hotch's lap. I looked in the review mirror at him, "Daemon, move. Down boy."

Rossi looked back, and chuckled, "You're taking us to you house in the country?"

"Yes, it's about an hour away from Quantico, so about two hours from here. We'll stop for food before we get there. I don't think anyone has filled the fridge in awhile."

Daemon finally moved off Hotch, "What are you going to be teaching us?"

"I guess you really mean 'am I going to be cutting you?' Only in one spot that you get to choose. I won't let it fully heal until we're done, but it's better than giving you multiple scars. Plus, if you listen, it won't scar at all. We'll be sparring a lot. Sometimes we'll wear pads, but most of the time we won't. I won't break any bones though, and leave you minimal bruises. I know how to inflict pain without leaving bruises."

Rossi looked over at me. He seemed to ignore what I said, "when was the last time you've been to this house?"

I paused, "a year and a half. I called someone while I was waiting for you all, and they're cleaning it now."

"That's not what I was concerned with now. I was wondering if you'd be able to handle it." I took a deep breath, and Daemon made a noise as he climbed back on Hotch's lap, "I told you to make him sit in the way back. Just make him sit on the floor. He's a big baby; he won't hurt you."

I looked back to the road, and made the turn I needed. "I've been there since they died Rossi. I know you just want to look out for me, but you're going to hate me for the next two weeks. I'm going to feel guilty enough as it is at the end of this. I'd appreciate it if you didn't pity me right now."

Hotch looked at Rossi, "You two know each other?"

"Rossi was the FBI agent on my kidnapping and torture case. He then came in on the case where my husband and daughter were killed. He's helped me a lot over the years."

He snorted, "That's a little bit of an understatement my dear. I've helped you more than that."

I looked at him, and tried to show my years of gratitude in one gaze.

"It was all worth it. Just go easy on an old man with whatever you're going to do with this mysterious training of yours." He laughed, and I joined in. Eventually Hotch chuckled a little too.

"Don't worry. For people of different ages there are different techniques. Most of the stuff I'll do with you two involves running, and sparring. I don't think I'll have to cut you. But if I do, I'll let you choose the spot, and it won't be deep enough to leave a scar."

We pulled up to my house, and everyone opened their door. Daemon rushed out so fast, he nearly made Hotch fall out of the car. "Sorry, he hasn't been here in forever. He probably wants to make sure no other dog has been here." I walked over to the door, and opened it. Josh was still there, doing some last minute cleaning.

"Good to see you. Thanks for doing this so fast."

"Sure. I cleaned every room you told me to. Your rooms are unlocked, and I left the key where it normally is. Every couple days I'll bring food. Call me if you need anything else."

Everyone else walked in as I paid him, "Go unpack. Emily, you'll be in the last door on the left. Boys, you'll be in the next room over. I'll be in the first room. Don't try to sneak out at night. You do, and you'll wake Daemon up. He'll chase after you until you come back inside. Do not come into my room for any reason. We'll go for a run in an hour."

They all looked at me as they walked by, and then nodded. Good; they were listening. Maybe this could be done sooner than I thought. I sat down at my kitchen counter, and put my head in my hands. I had one boy genius, the daughter of a diplomat I had severely pissed off, the man who was on my kidnapping case, a single father with severe emotional problems, and a man I was somewhat attracted too. What was I getting myself into?


	10. Chapter 10

**Jesse POV**

I was sparring with the team, and they were all good. Currently, I was up against Rossi. Whoever won played the next person. I had started with Reid, and he lasted surprisingly long. He hardly ever hit me, and mostly tried to deflect my blows. We were mostly going on points, so no one would have bruises. I would start that later; if I had to. Reid was too skinny to hurt. I do have some values after all.

Reid was only uncomfortable when I had tackled him to the ground, and was straddling him. I had my finger on his jugular, and said, "Kill. Nice job." I got off him, and he was clearly flustered. He said, "Technically, you would not have a kill by hitting my jugular. You could make me pass out, but a human would not be able to exert enough force to kill a person by merely poking a jugular vein."

I looked at him and started laughing, "Well Reid, it's a good thing that you haven't met some of my cousins then." He looked at me with a confused look on his face, "my cousin was being attacked by a man. Her husband went over to the man, and chopped his neck with his hand. The man died in the hospital of lack of blood to the brain. He had hit the man hard enough that it tore his jugular." I walked over to him and shook his hand, "Never would have thought you could fight like that. Good job. You can go upstairs if you would like. The fridge is open." He shook his head and mumbled that he would stay to watch.

I looked over to Rossi, "You're next old man. You ready?" He nodded, and moved towards me. I noticed he had old sweatpants on, that looked a little too small. Maybe I could use that to my advantage later. "Stay inside the chalk circle. I won't hit to bruise until you do this time."

"Jesse, I remember the rules. We've done this before." He moved towards me immediately. He definitely remembered the rules; be the first to strike and the last to punch. There was definitely a difference between the two.

I dodged him a couple times, and then moved on the offensive. Every couple of moves, I said, "Point." He got a few in, but was mostly on the defensive. I had hardly broken a sweat between him and Dr. Reid, but he was sweating profusely. "You done yet old man?" I was hardly trying; I just wanted to see what they could do. He shook his head, and then I saw the corner of his mouth twist up a tiny bit. I was almost at the edge of the circle, and was on the defensive trying to see how many times he could actually get me. He was going to try to push me out of the circle. I quickly dodged to the right, and he lunged to where I just stood. He fell flat on his face, and I tried not to smile. Derek was laughing, and Reid was chuckling. Hotch just looked amused. I walked over to Rossi's face, "You okay old man? I didn't hurt you there did I?" I held out a hand to help him up, and he just smirked at me.

"You just wait until we can actually punch each other. Then I'll get you."

"Mhm hmm. You need a shower. Are you going to wait over there with Reid until we're done?" He nodded, and went to sit down. I threw him a water bottle, and he grunted in reply. I smiled, it almost sounded like a Scottish grunt.

I looked over to where Derek, Emily, and Hotch stood, "Who's next?" When no one responded I looked at Emily, "Just because we sparred before doesn't mean you get out of it now."

"You already know what I fight like. Plus, you saw me fight when I was fifteen at my mother's diplomatic function. You were what, sixteen then, maybe seventeen?"

"Sixteen; had just gotten over my depression then too. Any other questions on your fishing expedition," I was getting annoyed, this was taking too long. If they took any longer, I was just going to attack one of them at random; maybe scare them a little.

Rossi chose for them, "Prentiss just go. You're going to get beaten even if you wait. Go now; at least have some dignity in the way you fight."

"What do you mean Rossi?" I could tell she was getting annoyed now too. Good; maybe she'd fight harder.

"Oh yeah, the last person to volunteer to spar will street fight with me. That means no rules. Plus, they have to clean the toilets for a week if they lose." I looked over to Emily again, and she immediately raised her hand.

"Fine. Let's get it over with." She came over to the circle, and I noticed her outfit. It was a tight shirt, with sweatpants.

She came at me first. I was going to make her mad, "who are you trying to impress with that tight shirt? Hotch?" She made a noise of frustration, and swung at my head, "So it's not Hotch. Rossi?" She made the same noise, and moved towards me again. I stepped around her, and she almost fell. They were good; but I was way better. "I'm surprised. I had heard you liked older men." She almost screamed at that. I was playing dirty here, and I could possibly get hurt because of it. Emily wasn't holding back, every time her fist connected with my arm, I could feel her rage. "I thought agents were supposed to control their anger. You're not doing a very good job of that right now." I could tell from her file that she wanted to impress her authority figures. I assumed it was kind of like pleasing her mother.

"It can't be Dr. Reid, from what I've learned, you don't go for super skinny guys." She moved towards me again. "Don't make fun of my team." Even better; she stuck up for her team. I could relate to that. "So it must be Morgan. I wonder what your mother would think of that." I knew that she knew I was implying her mother was racist. I knew she was anything but, but it would piss Emily off even more. Maybe I could see her really fight.

"You know as well as I do that my mother is not racist you Scottish slut."

"Ho ho! We're name calling now!" I jumped back so I didn't get hit in the gut, "Be careful there. You might fall like Rossi did." She was strategically fighting now; this was even better. I finally went on the offensive, and started moving towards her. She was good at blocking.

"You're just mad because my mother went to a better country than your father did." My father was a diplomat when I was little, and no one ever brought up my father currently. Even people who don't know me that well seem to get the hint that I never, ever, talk about my parents.

"You should keep your mouth shut when you're told. My father was sent here from Scotland. He was shot in this country. It took me three years to get permission from your government to send him to a hospital back home. He is STILL in a coma!" With that, I gave her a roundhouse kick to her chest. I knew it would bruise, but it wouldn't break a bone. She fell down, "Stay down. If you get back up, I will break your clavicle." My accent was really heavy by this point, "ten minute break. Don't leave the house." I walked over the wall, and punched it. I knew I would have to fix the hole tomorrow, but right now I just needed to get out of there.

**Derek POV**

We were all surprised when Jesse punched the wall. Emily looked over at us with shame in her eyes, "I didn't mean to make her mad. It's just she seemed to know exactly what buttons to push. After the last case, I'm a little rattled." We all looked at her, and we understood. We had taken care of Ian Doyle, but it still haunted her. After the case in Chicago, I had blown up at the team a few times. They got mad, but walked away and let me deal with it. When it got to be too much, Hotch brought me into his office, and let me destroy whatever I wanted. Of course, he gave me a bill for it afterwards, but it felt good at the time. So we all understood why Emily had reacted that way. "She was doing it on purpose. She's trying to teach us how to forget our emotions under pressure. What I don't get is why she reacted so badly. I looked at her file the other day. It doesn't say much about her, but it did say that. She would probably know that we would look at her file."

"I don't care why she reacted that way. She gave us a break. Let's go get food, and water," Hotch said. I noticed Rossi and Reid had stayed quiet in this conversation. I bet Rossi wasn't telling us everything he knew about her past. I wondered what it would take for him to tell me.

We walked up the stairs, and saw Daemon lying in the corner. I had wondered where he got too. He looked up at me, harrumphed, and then put his head back down. Well, at least Jesse was all right; I knew Daemon would be freaking out if she wasn't.

**Jesse POV**

I was sitting on my roof, just looking out at my land. I used to do this a lot when I was younger. I would assess my land, and sit on my roof and just think. Given, that was in Scotland, but it was the thought that counted. When Ian and our daughter were still alive, we would sit up here and watch the stars at night. We lived in the city, but would come out here every weekend. It would help us calm down after a long week.

Right now, it just made me want to cry. I missed them both so much it hurt some times. Right now was one of those times. Ian was one of the few people who knew what happened with my dad. He was shot by his best friend who was abusing me. He would poison me, and then beat me. Part of the reason I can withstand so much pain is because of the chemicals he gave me. They certainly helped me get used to pain.

Because my mother was a naturalized U.S citizen, we lived here. My dad lived here most of the year, but would travel a lot too. My dad confronted him one night after he had beaten me, and the gun went off. The bullet hit my dad in the head, and he ended up in a coma. He came out for a few weeks, only to learn my mother had cancer. He volunteered to take an experimental medicine to help his brain injury, and it landed him back in the coma. It turned out it had an ingredient he was allergic too. He knew that, and I haven't really forgiven him yet. I was little, and he abandoned me. My mom married my father's best friend because he threatened to kill me if she didn't. I had to take care of her and my sister while mom died of cancer. I still missed her.

I saw Daemon run outside, and assumed someone had let him out. He ran over to his favorite spot, and looked up to where I was. He knew I was up here. He sat there wagging his tail, and I could tell he wanted me to pet him. I crawled over to the side, and shimmied down the drain pipe. I could just go over to my window and crawl back inside, but then that would mean letting the team know I could get up to the roof.

Daemon ran over to me as I reached the ground, "Good boy. Go grab your ball." I would play fetch with him for a few minutes, and then go inside. Maybe the team would think that was all I did. Somehow, I knew they were smarter than that.

**Rossi POV**

I had purposefully stayed out of that conversation. I was sitting at Jesse's countertop, just thinking. She wasn't really over what had happened to her in life, and this incident just proved that. I knew she tried to bury things, and not think about them. I wondered if working with the whole team would make her quit that. We couldn't really work with her if she didn't open up. After my first few months of working with this team, I understood that. Now it was natural telling them some things. We all had some secrets, but didn't everyone need to keep a few secrets?

I walked over to the door, and opened it for Daemon but he didn't come inside. The rest of the team was exploring the house. I really hoped they didn't get into trouble while they were doing that. I walked outside to where Jesse was, and just stood beside her. She was playing fetch with Daemon, and neither of us talked for a few minutes. I knew she was trying to get me to talk first, so I finally did, "You okay?"

**Jesse POV**

I looked over at Rossi, and ignored his question, "You weren't supposed to leave the house."

He was still watching Daemon, "you said the dog came first. So I came out here to see if you wanted me to throw the ball so you could take a walk."

"Bull; you just wanted to pry."

He laughed and looked over at me, "You never answered my question."

I sighed, "Fine; I'm just fine. Go back inside. We're going into the basement again in a few minutes. Then we're going to run." I knew he hated running and hoped that would get him to leave.

"Nice try Blondie. Spill the beans."

Now it was my turn to chuckle, "I dye my hair for two days, and you never let it go." When I first joined the FBI on my eighteenth birthday I had died my hair blonde. It looked horrible because my eyebrows wouldn't completely turn colors. I dyed it red, and waited for my hair to grow out. That color didn't even match, my hair was so red.

"Talk or I'll get Morgan to get your ass."

"Really old man? Using other people to do your dirty work? You must be getting old." He gave me a poignant look, "Fine. I haven't thought about my father in a while, so it hit a sore spot. I needed to get out of there or else I really would have broken her bone. I need you all to trust me, not hate me."

"That's crap and you know it. I've never asked about your childhood before, but you need to tell me now. If it could potentially result in any problems, then I'll decide whether or not you have to tell the team. You should anyways, but we all have our secrets."

"You know Morgan's situation?" He looked at me in confusion, "Yes, I know all your secrets. Don't be so surprised. But you know it?" He nodded, and then I continued, "My step father was close. He beat my sister, my mother, and I. He poisoned me, and I suspect he poisoned them too. My mother had bone cancer so no one was any the wiser if she had a few breaks here and there. I took care of my mother, so no one ever checked on me."

"So why did your mother marry him if she knew about that? And what does this have to do with your father?"

I held up a hand for him to be patient, "He was abusing me while my father was out of town. My father finally found out when I was eleven, and then he tried to shoot him. There was a scuffle, and the bullet hit my father instead. He woke up from his coma for a few weeks. He couldn't look at me; he assumed the worst. He wasn't far off. Then he took some medication that he was allergic too when he found out my mother had cancer. My mother got a divorce for medical reasons a few months later, and then married my stepfather. The beatings and poisoning happened more often, and became worse. He ended up killing my mother, and went to jail for it."

I sat down on the grass, and put my head between my knees. Why did people have to bring up every bad thing about my past lately? Rossi sat next to me, and put his hand over mine.

**Derek POV**

I walked down the stairs, and looked around for Daemon. I was going to let him out, because I assumed no one had in a while. I walked over to the window, and saw Jesse sitting on the ground. I saw the way her ass curved, and I felt my pants tighten. Then I thought about how she fought earlier and my pants tightened eve more. I shifted uncomfortably. I looked out the window again, and saw Rossi had his hand on hers. I felt some jealousy, but also knew that I had no right to be. I knew the rest of the team was upstairs, so I walked outside to see what Jesse and Rossi were talking about.

**Jesse POV**

"Did he ever rape you?" Rossi had lowered his voice.

As soon as he said that, the door opened, "What are you two doing? I thought we weren't allowed to leave the house?" It was Derek. He certainly was nosy. I wasn't sure if I liked that yet.

I stood up, "Time to get back to work. Go inside. Let me get Daemon and I'll come in too." I looked at Derek as Rossi stood up.

"Is everything ok? You can tell me you know."

"Derek, I've met you a total of two times. Both times I have been pissed, to say the least. Why exactly should I trust you in that short of time?" He gave me a smile, that I assumed was supposed to dazzle me. "Go." I shuffled my hand at him.

Rossi grabbed my arm, and I had to stop myself from reacting, "Answer my question Jesse."

I looked him straight in the eye, "He came too close multiple times. But no, he was not the first one to rape me.'" With that I walked into the house, and whistled for Daemon. He galloped over to me, and licked my hand.

I walked inside, and knew Rossi would follow when he had processed that information.

Daemon ran ahead of me down the stairs, and curled up in the corner. Everyone except Rossi was already down there.

"All right, who's next?" I looked over at Hotch and Morgan. Morgan nodded over to Hotch, and Hotch moved into the circle. I put my hair up in a pony tail; I knew Hotch had gone up against Foyet. Foyet was good, so Hotch must be better. I knew Hotch had some scars from what Foyet did, but I hadn't looked at the pictures of them. I knew in time that Hotch would show me them if he wanted to.

Rossi cam down the stairs as Hotch started to remove his shirt, "You can keep it on. It's not a requirement to show me your scars." He looked at me, and watched me as I stepped into the circle. He motioned for me to go first; he was a gentleman too. I moved towards him, and he blocked almost everything I gave him. "You can go home when you're done here. See your boy. Come back in the morning. There's a car in the garage with GPS." He huffed a reply, and moved towards me.

We were using points, and Dr. Reid was keeping count. "She's got twice as many points as you. She wins. You've lasted the longest so far Hotch. Twice as long as Emily and Rossi did combined."

He went over and sat on the floor, "Thanks Reid." He puffed.

I was breathing heavy too, and had started to sweat. "Now I see why you beat Foyet. You were the first."

He looked at me, "And the last."

I nodded, "Again, I'm sorry about your wife. I used to have some of the same friends she did. I am very sorry about her death. Now go home, enjoy the time with your son."

He stood up, and said, "Thanks."

I looked over to Morgan, "Ready to go?" He gave me the same smile he did before, "Don't even try it player." He held his hands up, "Boxing?" He nodded, and then lunged at me. He certainly did know how to street fight. Play dirty and don't get hit.

It was about an hour later when I finally got fed up. I was hardly trying before. I was going to play dirty too. I lunged for his knees, and he fell to the ground. "Ow that hurt. Why didn't you just do that in the first place, and save me all those bruises?" He groaned, and I rolled off him.

I was really sweating now, and was breathing really heavy, "Wanted to see what you could do. With the others they showed their strategies right away. Yours kept changing." We both sat up, and I smiled. It felt good to fight like that. I still had an adrenaline high, and that felt even better. "Maybe one day I could show you exactly how I fight."

He looked over at me, and smiled, "I'd like that." I smiled back at him, and nodded.

I got up, "Go rest for now. Someone call Hotch; tell him to be here at six in the morning. I'm going into town; don't go beyond the wooden fence. You can walk outside, but bring flashlights if it's late. Daemon will stay here. If you do go outside, bring him for a walk." With that, I walked up the stairs, grabbed my keys, and started my car. I was going to go to the local bar, get extremely drunk, and possibly have one of the worst hangovers of my life in the morning; for the second day in a row it seems.


	11. Chapter 11

**Jesse POV**

I pulled up to the bar, and noticed it was packed. I went inside, and went over to the bar. "Adam." I nodded towards the bartender. I knew a lot of people in the town, and they all respected me. I came to this bar a lot when I was in town, because Ian's family owned it. They were distant cousins of each other, but still remained in contact when he was alive. There was a surprising amount of Scottish people in the D.C metro and surrounding areas. We all stayed connected, as we were all somehow related, or they knew my family.

He gave me some Scotch, and we made chit chat for a while. I looked at the brand of Scotch, and noticed it was the kind that my family back in Scotland made. I smiled, and he smiled back. We used our connections to our advantage.

"You here for the usual? There's another Scot somewhere in the place looking for the same. Or Jack's in the backroom." Adam was the only person who knew I came here to have sex. If you don't love the person, sex is just sex…Yeah, I was really screwed up by my childhood.

"Thanks," I paid for my drinks, and then headed to the backroom. I opened the door, and I heard Jack call out, "Employees only; if you're drunk, go puke in the toilets."

I didn't say anything, and he looked up, "Jesse. I've been wondering when you would come back. It's been a couple months. Everything ok" Jack didn't know about my temporary blindness, and I wanted to keep it that way. I had changed into a skirt in my car, and I was now thankful for that. We were both lonely and sometimes just needed sex. He put down whatever was in his hands, and locked the door.

He came over to me, and gently pushed me up against the far wall. I ran my hands over his chest, and wished he had muscles. They would remind me of Ian. We both thought of different people when we were together, and neither of us had a problem with that. An image flashed before my eyes; a tall muscular chocolate man. I opened my eyes to get that out of my head.

When we were finished I felt weird, and empty. This hadn't happened before. I couldn't get Derek's image out of my head. This wasn't right. I was about to make his life hell, yet I couldn't stop thinking about him while I had sex with another man. This was not good. This was not good at all. Jack handed me my clothes; I put them on, and then left. I didn't want to go home right away, so I drove to the lake on the edge of my property.

It was about fifteen minutes later when I got there. I changed back into my pants, and threw my skirt into the back of my car. It was an old Ford truck. It was black, and had rust marks all over it, but I still loved it. It was my father's when he was awake, and it was the car I learned to drive in. I sat on the hood of the car, and just stared at the lake. The sun was almost down, so it looked really pretty. I was sitting with my knees up, and leaning against the windshield.

I started whistling an old Scottish tune. It made me miss Scotland. This lake reminded me of a few lakes on the land my family owned. This was the lake where I taught my little girl to swim. I taught of few of my cousins to swim here too. I had helped to raise of few of my orphan cousins. I made a mental note to call them when the two weeks was over.

When the sun finally went down, I didn't feel any better. I took my shirt and pants off, and dived into the water. I would swim for a while, and then go back to the house when everyone was asleep. I would bring Daemon out here for a swim later in the week.

I don't know how long I was swimming for, but pretty soon I heard voices. I paused, and looked back towards the shore. There were a few people, and they were waving and shouting. I looked towards where I was swimming; the other side of the lake. I had yet to make it to the other side. I was hardly half way, and I knew the lake was really deep. I looked back to where the people were standing, and they were yelling even more. They were moving around, and they had opened my truck door. It was almost pitch black out, so I swam back to the shore. I stopped when the water was just below my neck. "What the hell are you doing?" It was the team. "How did you get here? Why the hell are you shouting my name so much?"

Reid looked over at me, "Well, I kind of saw your headlights when I was walking around. I couldn't find you, so I went to find everyone else. We've been looking for you for the last half hour. Are you ok?"

"Can you throw me my clothes?" Derek gathered my shirt into a ball, and threw it out to me. I held it up in front of me as I moved close to them. When the water got to my waist, I put my shirt on, "Now my pants." My shirt was getting wet as the water moved.

"They'll get soaked. We can just shut our eyes. Now come on, it's getting cold out here. You'll freeze to death," Morgan said.

"No; throw me my pants. You all were the ones who decided to create a search party. I was doing fine until you got here." Derek just shook his head. At that moment I really wanted to kill him. I started walking towards them, and they all noticed the scar running from the outside of my right ankle all the way up to the inside of my thigh. It ended just above my panty line, and I could tell they followed the line all the way up. I had only showed them part of it before. My cheeks burned in embarrassment as I grabbed my pants out of Derek's arms. His hands stayed where they were for a second until he realized I had taken my pants away from him. I put them on, and then they finally stopped staring.

"Jesse, that scar's older than the other ones." Daemon walked over, and I wondered where he came from. I grunted as a reply. It neither confirmed it, nor denied it. "Jesse, what happened?"

"Derek, don't go there." My voice was hard, almost scary.

"Jesse, you can tell us. You already know all our secrets, or we would've told you."

"Derek, leave it alone." I looked at him, and couldn't tell why he wanted to know so badly.

"Why won't you tell us? It can't be worse than how you got your other scars. We all assumed you got those scars from when you were kidnapped."

"NO!" I stormed away, and threw them back the keys. I started to jog as Derek called my name, "Daemon." He came over to me, and we continued to run. I ran away from them, away from my house, and away from my life. When I got far enough away from them that I couldn't hear their voices, I dove into the lake. Daemon dove in with me, and we went for a swim. I stayed close to the shore, but I started to swim the perimeter. When I got tired, I got out of the lake. I realized I was about an hour walk from the house, and I was soaking wet. I didn't have my car keys, or my cell phone. Daemon shook himself off, and we started to walk back towards the house.


	12. Chapter 12

**Jesse POV**

I woke up early the next morning. I couldn't remember what time I got back to the house last night. I knew it was late; everyone had been asleep for a long time. I went for a quick jog before everyone else got up. I hadn't even slept for four hours. The longest amount of sleep I'd gotten in almost a decade was seven hours and even that didn't happen very often.

Daemon came running over to me as I opened the door. We took a jog around half my property; the half that I didn't walk last night. I put my ear buds in, and just listened to my music. I hadn't done this in a long time, and it felt good. I was only wearing a sports bra with sweatpants. I saw the old tree that split in half after the storm three years ago, and the bushes that marked the garden my little girl had wanted me to make. I changed the flowers every other year, like she wanted, but I kept the colors pink. I smiled at the memory of us three planting those flowers so many years ago.

I turned at the tire swing, and headed back to the house. Hopefully everyone would be up by now, and have already eaten. I would take them for a long run, just to get an idea of how fast they run. It would be a long, and grueling run, and would take most of the day. They would be exhausted at the end of it, but no one would be able to talk the whole way.

Before I went to my lake last night, I had called a few people. They would drive the route we were taking at random points throughout the day. Anyone who got too exhausted to go on could merely sit down. They would have to run again once they got home, but no one would know that.

By the time I was done thinking I had arrived back at the house. I went right in, and then slowed down. I had barely started to sweat, and could feel my heart beating fast. I remembered before I had my little girl, my fastest heart rate was 55 beats per minute. I would run five miles every day, as fast as I could. It helped me focus, and would give me time to think. Plus, when I got Daemon, it would give him plenty of exercise.

Everyone was sitting at my table. It looked like they had made pancakes and bacon, "You're all going to regret eating that much food in about an hour."

Derek moved to get up to get me a plate, but I waved for him to sit down, "So you're going to pretend like last night never happened?"

I didn't look at him but continued to get some food, "I was told to show you my scars. I was not told to tell you how I got them. I may eventually tell you, but I may not. That's my business for now. You don't see me going around asking about your childhood in Chicago." I got some food for Daemon, and sat at my countertop. "I know all about your secrets. I was asked to profile all of you about a year ago. I was asked to determine if you all should stay together. And Emily, I knew about Italy then too." I glanced over to her, and she looked back at me. Good, she was standing firm. She would just have to run more today because of that. "By the time we're done, you're all going to hate me. You will do some exercise that I used to do for fun. We may have to work together, but it doesn't mean you won't hate me when we're done." I swallowed my drink, and then rinsed my plate off. I hadn't gotten much food to eat in the first place. I looked over to Rossi, and he just had sorrow in his eyes. He could tell how much of a cynic I had become.

Derek started to say more, but Hotch motioned for him to stop. "Go change. We'll be running today; a lot. We leave in five minutes. Anyone not ready then will only run more later." I opened my fridge, and turned away from everyone. I heard their chairs scrape against my floor, and when I turned back only Dr. Reid was standing there. I could tell he wanted to talk, "Dr. Reid? Is everything ok? I may sound like a bitch but I actually do care."

He laughed at that, "I was just wondering…I mean I just wanted to say…I just…I'm sorry. I'm really nervous."

I walked over to him and sat in the chair next to him, "You don't have to be afraid of me Dr. Reid."

"You can call me Reid, or Spencer." I smiled at him, "Well then you can call me Graime or Jesse."

He smiled at me, and I knew I had gained his trust. I would have to be careful not to destroy that by the end of the two weeks. "Spencer, I am going to make you run a lot over the next two weeks. We're going to spar, and you are going to be very sore. I will try everything I can think of to make sure I don't have to cut any of you. I didn't want to do this in the first place, but I'm going to make sure I do it right. If the director finds out I did this half-assed, he's going to fire me, and bring in my cousins. They will do everything short of torturing you. I know what they do, because someone did it to me. We all did it back then. We thought it was just physical wounds, not emotional wounds we were causing. So you understand why I need to do this?"

He looked at me, "You're not afraid of your cousins, but you once were. Or you were the cause of their fear. Right?"

I laughed, "I thought you didn't profile team members."

He blushed, "Sorry. I do it automatically now. I just normally don't say it out loud."

**Derek POV**

I only had to change my shirt, so I got back to the kitchen first. I heard Jesse and Reid talking. I heard her laugh, and it was beautiful. I wanted to be the one to make her laugh. They continued talking, and soon Spencer got up and walked by me. He looked at me, "How long were you standing there?"

I looked at him, "Why Pretty Boy? You two have some secret intimate conversation while I was gone?" I teased him, hoping he wouldn't notice my growing attraction to Jesse. And this time I only meant attraction, not certain other…characteristics.

He went to the room to grab his clothes. I noticed that he had gained some of the weight he had lost the past few weeks. That was good, maybe Jesse could get him to refine that into muscle. I walked into the kitchen, and Jesse was cleaning up our mess, "You don't have to do that. I can do it later."

She didn't stop, "I get ants up here every once in awhile. They're a bitch to get rid of. I'd rather just do it now. Besides, everyone will be tired at the end of the day. You'll all want to rest." There was a different tone in her voice; it almost sounded like she cared.

"Is that caring I heard in your voice? Are you getting sentimental?" She glared at me, and splashed water at me.

"Go outside. Enjoy the fresh air while you can breathe." She snorted, and I had to stop myself from reacting.

"You know, I can run. I lasted longer than everybody while we were sparring." She snorted again, and I continued, "Despite what you may think, I am more physically fit than most FBI agents."

At that she turned around, "Are you…trying to justify yourself to me? Or are you trying to boast?"

I was shocked at that, "No. I just don't…I mean…Why would you…never mind." I just walked outside, and I could feel her watching me. I have never been that…flustered around a woman before. What was it about her that made me react this way? She made me feel incompetent, and over competent at the same time.


	13. Chapter 13

**Jesse POV**

The two weeks were almost up. Everyone had learned to listen, but to also find loopholes in my directions. I was glad. I didn't have to hurt anyone, and they all didn't completely hate me.

Currently they were running around the house. They would run enough to be ten miles or more. Everyone had decreased on the times they could run it in, but most of them were very sore at the end of it. Derek came running around the edge of the building, and practically collapsed at my feet.

I started laughing he looked so funny, "Are you ok?"

He looked at me, and couldn't say a word. Daemon went over to him and licked his face. He tried to walk on top of Derek, so Derek fell to the ground. Emily came running around the corner, so Daemon ran over to her. He loved the attention he got from everybody. I hadn't had any eyesight problem since the surgery, so he just got to play all the time.

We talked about nothing until the rest of the team finished, "Ok everyone. Go pack. We're going home." They looked at me confused, "You all learned what I needed to teach you. You can ignore some amounts of pain, while trying to cause others pain at the same time. We'll only get three days break until we have to be back at Quantico, but then you probably expected that."

As soon as they could breathe again, they all walked back inside. They were ready in fifteen minutes, and we all got in the car. I was tired, and wanted to go home. I was sore from sparring every day. Derek was the one who finally beat me; even then I didn't try as hard as I could have. I was really surprised at how long he lasted though.

Everyone was silent the whole way home, and most everybody fell asleep. Derek stayed awake, and we just made chit chat most of the way. Finally he looked over at me, "Jesse, I'm sorry for how abrupt I was the first few days here. I was trying to get to know you, but I acted too abrupt. I would like to be friends. Can I buy you a drink some time to make it up to you?"

I looked over at him, and then back to the road, "Would it be a date?"

He paused for a couple seconds, and then responded, "Only if you wanted it to be." So he was being coy again. But, he was being respectful at the same time. I could deal with that.

"How about we get through our first case together, and then we'll see about that. Besides, isn't it against company policy to date coworkers?" We both laughed at that.

"From the impression I get of you, you're not one to follow rules." I nodded, and we continued to talk the whole ride home. I told him of growing up in Scotland, and he told me of growing up in Chicago. All in all, it was nice.


	14. Chapter 14

**Jesse POV**

I dropped everyone off at the Hoover Building; all their cars were still there. I went home, and cleaned up my apartment a little. I was restless, but exhausted at the same time. Daemon circled the apartment, and kept sniffing, "What are you doing boy? There's been no other dogs here." He kept doing the same thing.

I changed my clothes and was about to go to sleep when I heard my phone ring. I walked over to it and looked at the caller I.D. I didn't recognize it, but it was a local number, "Hello?"

**Derek POV**

Once Jesse dropped us off at the Hoover building, I couldn't stop thinking about her. I drove home on autopilot; still thinking about her the whole way. It wasn't physical this time, though there was a hint of that. I kept pacing around my apartment when I got there. Finally, I just picked up my phone. I was hoping she answered, but then again I wasn't.

She picked up on the third ring, "Hello?"

"Jesse? It's Derek."

Her voice became alert, "Is everything ok? Is the team alright?"

"Yes, yeah; nothing like that. I just was restless, and wanted to see if you wanted to go out for that drink. Just friends, until after the next case that is."

I heard her pause, "Derek, I don't know. We're coworkers."

I wasn't expecting that. I thought she was just going to say no. "Come on, who could it hurt?"

I heard her laugh, and I liked that sound even more. "Well it could get both of us fired. I wouldn't really care, but would you?"

That was a good question, and I thought it over for a few minutes. Finally I responded, "It would be worth the risk."

**Jesse POV**

I was shocked at that. It made me feel nice, it made me feel…wanted. I hadn't felt that in so long. But we were coworkers. If he broke my heart, I didn't know if I could deal with it.

I sat there just thinking for a minute, and eventually Derek said something, "Jesse? You still there? What do you say?"

I shook my head, "I'm still here." I thought about it for another moment, and decided to play coy. Maybe it would be worth it later, "I'm going to wait until after that first case. You think _you_ can wait Romeo?"

He laughed, "Oh, I'll take that as a challenge Red."

I laughed even more, "Great. We'll make it a date then." Did I just say that? Was I flirting? What was getting into me? Wasn't I clinically depressed?

His voice got a little bit lower, and I couldn't tell if it was intentional or not, "Sounds great red. See you in a few days?"

"Yeah." I smiled, and then hung up. I asked myself again, What was I getting myself into?


	15. Chapter 15

**Jesse POV**

The next few days went by really slow. I ran a lot, and Daemon enjoyed that. I visited my brother a lot, and we were both glad I could still see. We were wary after the surgery, and knew that my eyesight was a ticking time bomb.

James was currently making me dinner at his place, he had lost a bet. "I thought you know to never bet against me."

"Aye, you bein' one of the Fey Folk, and all." I laughed. Someone back in Scotland had started that superstition of me when I was about fifteen. No one ever crossed me now. Plus, they never bet against me; if they were smart enough.

"James, how much have ye had ta drink?" I noticed my accent had gotten thicker by the end of the sentence. We were both tired, and had ended the day with a nice bottle of Scotch; or rather a couple bottles of Scotch.

"Juist a litte bit less than whit ye huv." We both laughed, our accents were as thick as they were the last time we stayed in Scotland.

We continued to talk, and eventually he asked, "Sae whit happened wi' th' training?"

I sobered up at that, "Got done faster than I thought." I could still here a slight Scottish burr in my voice.

We were laying on the couch, opposite each other, limbs lying over the side. "Thir's something ye'r nae telling me Ruadh." _Red_

I snorted at that, and mumbled, "You're not the only one calling me that these days." I spoke up louder, "You've got red hair too! Whatcha' callin' me tha' for?

"I heard the first part of your statement there too. Who else are you letting call you that now?"

I grumbled a nonresponsive answer. He sat upright in his chair, and almost fell back. I laughed, "It seems to me that yer a little tipsy thir my fella."

"Hah! I'm nae the only one!" We both started giggling at that. We were really drunk. I had lost count of how many bottles of Scotch we had drunk. I think it was only two. But hadn't we started a third? Oh well. It was Friday, and the team wouldn't be back to work until Tuesday.

"Ye ne'er asnswered mah quaistion, who're ye letting ca' ye that now?"

I paused for a while, and hoped he fell asleep. Eventually he grunted, and motioned for me to speak, "Who says I ha' to tell ye? Ya gonna beat the answer outta me?"

"Cha toir, ach bheir mi dhut sgailc!" _No, but I may slap you!_ We must be really drunk if we were mixing our Gaelic with our English. "Tell me already! Were they really that bad? Did you damn them all to hell? Did you start rambling in the Gaelic? Hmm?" He was laughing like crazy now.

"Oh ye think that's funny do ya?" I threw a pillow at him. Daemon jumped up and tried to tackle him. "See? I got the dog on my side!" We were cackling by now. I haven't been this drunk in ages. I could hold my liquor well, but this was a little too much.

James sobered up a little and pushed Daemon down. "Git off ya mutt. Seriously now, what's makin' ya this….happy?" He studied my face for a minute.

I thought to myself; I was happy. For no reason, I was just smiling. "I'm nae sure." I paused, "Derek, someone on my team, asked me out for a drink."

I thought James was going to give me hell for admitting that, but he surprised me. He made sure I was looking him in the eyes, and said, "Good. It's about time ye had someone to comfort ye. And sex does nae count as comfort." I winced at that, so he knew about my activities at a certain bar. "Aye, I saw that. Yer lucky I dinna tell the family. Then ye'd never get a moment of peace." I nodded, and leaned my head against the wall, "It'll be all right Kentigern." _Chieftain_ He really was drunk if he was calling me captain. I didn't stand to inherit our…enterprise until my grandfather died.

"Granda's still alive Seumas." _James._

"Aye. Doesna' mean yer not our chieftan though sister." I grunted, and sat in silence for a while.

"James?" All I heard back was snoring. I threw a blanket over him, and then went into my room. Why was it we were always over at my place, not his?


	16. Chapter 16

**Jesse POV**

The next few days went by really slow. I took care of a few things at the company, just to clear it up that I would be working with the FBI most of the time now. I signed most of the control off to James; I hadn't done anything major there in a while now. I would still share in the profits and have to attend the board meetings, but I could come and go as I pleased. I signed the last paper, "James, the only thing that will change here is how much you control. You did that much anyways. Why do I have to sign this again?"

He gave me a look, "Because with you working at the Hoover building so much now, we need some separation from you if the company will still do business with the FBI. Unofficially, you'll still have all the same control. Besides, you'll still be the President. I just get more signing power. IF you ever want anything to change, it'll happen right away. This is just a formality."

I grunted. "Fine. I still say this is a waste of time." He was about to give me another long speech when my phone rang. I picked it up, "Hello?"

"Jesse? It's Derek. We've got a case. Do you want me to pick you up? You're on my way anyways."

"No I'm not but fine. Should I put together a go bag quick?"

"Yeah; I don't know where we're going yet, but Hotch said it'd take a couple days. I'll be there in fifteen. Hotch wanted to know if Daemon could handle airplanes."

"He can. I'll see you when you get here," I hung up, and James looked over at me.

"Was that your lover boy?"

I glared at him, "If you want to survive another fifteen seconds I suggest you never say that again."

"Oh ho. Some one's a little touchy! You only ever defended your daughter like that."

I was really mad now. I could feel me pulse beat faster, and I clenched my hands into fists. "James," I said warningly.

He started dancing around now, "Some one's feeling lovey dovey today."

I pounced on him, and punched him. "Do not compare my feelings towards my daughter to... to... a man! EVER!" I yelled. My Scottish accent was back. It seemed I could never control it these days. Daemon ran in the room, and just sat there. He looked like he was confused. He would always defend me, but would never hurt James.

James had fallen to the ground when I punched him. He looked at me with an apology in his eyes, "Piuthar, I am sorry." _Sister._ "I should na' have done that. I was just tryin' to get a rise out of ye. It is good that your depression has gone. How does it feel to feel again?" He smiled, and held his jaw, "Ye almost knocked me out there sister. You losing your touch?"

I snorted, "You want me to finish the job?"

"I take it all is forgiven?"

I nodded, "It feels…..like I can finally feel." I looked at him, and he nodded.

"Well you just have to get some more practice at it then. Come one, let's go get you some things to wear in a bag. You certainly have nothing here at my place." I laughed, and Daemon barked, "Even the mutt is excited. It must be a good sign. I think all will go well for ye sister. I have a good feeling about this."

"Oh, so now you're a fairy too eh?" Fairies were the Fey Folk of old times.

He chuckled, "Nay. I'm just picking up on a few of your tendencies. It was bound to happen sooner or later. You are a bad influence after all."

"Ha! And that's why Granda' let me raise some of the orphans!"

"Exactly! Someone who knew their bad behaviors!"

I mumbled under my breath, "Bad tendencies my ass. I'll show you some bad tendencies."

"I heard that. I may be younger than you, but I am a wee bit taller."

"By one inch! And I can knock you out in one punch!"

He walked out of the room, and towards his front door, "Not anymore you can't!" He starting laughing, and I could hear it all the way down the hall.

I ran after him, "Yeah? You want me to prove it to ya?"

He was opening my door and paused, "It feels good after so long, doesn't it sister?"

I looked at him and smiled, "I'm a little rusty at it, but yeah. It does feel good."

Fifteen minutes I heard a knock on my door. I went to open it and saw Derek. I smiled as I opened the door, "Come on in. I just got to get some food for Daemon."

He looked at me a little confused. Then he looked at James, "Why is she smiling?"

James started laughing, and pointed to his jaw where there was a ghost of a bruise.

"Jesse, you hit your brother! Now I'm not so sure if I want to take you out for that drink after all!" He started laughing, and winked at me.

"Listen up lover boy." James snorted at that comment, and I glared at him to shut up, "I said we'd talk after the first case. We haven't even left my apartment yet." As soon as Derek heard that last statement, he chuckled. James looked at him, and started chuckling too. I looked at James, "You remember what I promised earlier? I can still come through with that."

Derek shook his head, "I'll never get you redheads." He looked up to me and smiled, "Ready to go Red?"

James started laughing really hard now. I glared at him again. As Derek opened the door James said, "Now don't you kids stay out too late now; I'll be waiting up for Jesse to come back."

I glared back at him, "Shut up," and then I closed the door on him.

I looked at Derek, "Sorry for that. He had a little too much to drink the other night, and I'm not sure if it's out of his system yet."

Derek looked at me, "It's fine. I thought it was…..charming. It was nice to see you smile and laugh. I never realized how pretty it was before."

I blushed and lowered my head so my hair would cover up my face. I thought about that for a few minutes, and then, "Thanks."


	17. Chapter 17

**Derek POV**

We were sitting in the car in silence. I could tell Jesse was thinking about things, and didn't want to be disturbed, so I just watched her out of the corner of my eye. When we were almost at Quantico, she turned to look at me. I glanced back to the road quickly, and smiled to myself.

"Derek, if I ask you a question, will you promise not to laugh?"

I glanced at her, and could see her face looked wary, "The question can't be that bad can it?"

She mumbled something and then looked at me again, "Well? Will you laugh or won't you?"

This girl was frustrating. One minute she was horribly mad at me, and now she was almost…..flirting…I think. "How about I promise I'll try not to laugh, and I won't tell anyone on the team about the question either?"

She nodded to herself, and then took a deep breath, "Ok, here goes it." I chuckled. Sometimes she could act so…Scottish, but then there where little times like this where she seemed more American than every person I knew. I guess it was just a part of her charm. "Why did you want to ask me out on a date?"

**Jesse POV**

His head whipped over to look at me, "Why are you asking me that?" I sat there for a minute so he could think about it. After a few minutes, he looked back to me, "Don't ask me questions like that when I'm driving." He thought about it for a few more seconds, "Oh." He turned to look at me, and I could see sorrow in his eyes, "You really don't know, do you?"

I lowered my head to let my hair fall in front of my face. I blushed, and shook my head.

**Derek POV**

That question really surprised me. But then it hit me why she asked me that. She was just beginning to come out of a cycle of about eight years of depression. She really needed some reassurance that she still belonged to the human race. She needed to know that things hadn't changed much in the eight years she wasn't fully there. I looked at her for a second, and then put my eyes on the road again, "You really don't know, do you?"

I looked back to her, and she had her head down with her hair blocking her face, "Jesse, the last thing I want to do right now is to hurt you. If you don't want to go out on a date, just tell me ok?" I was in a precarious position here. One wrong move and I would never get her to trust me.

She mumbled something that just sounded like, "Just answer the question and put me out of my misery."

I took a deep breath, "Well, the first second I saw you, you were so smart. You were literally blind, but didn't let that bother you. In fact, it aggravated you when people pointed that out. You knew how to take care of yourself, yet it was clear you were lost. You are modest about your abilities, even to a fault. I boxed with you. It's never taken me that long to beat someone. Even then, I didn't beat you. I could tell you weren't fully trying. I saw you after you were swimming. We were all clearly nervous at being with you, and not knowing what you were going to do to us, and yet you were wary with how you talked to Spencer. You almost treated him like a frightened animal, yet no one noticed that." I could see out of the corner of my eye that she was looking at me. I could tell she wanted to say something, but I held my hand up, "You asked me a question. I'd like to finish it." I saw her nod, and then I continued, "I know you aren't really looking to date right now, and that's ok. I can be a friend. Besides, I've never dated a Scottie." I laughed, and she hit my arm slightly.

"Not you too!" I glanced at her in confusion, "Penelope calls me that too! What's this fascination with the fact that I'm Scottish?"

We looked at each other, and both started laughing. Once we were done laughing, we had pulled up to Quantico. I flashed my badge, and they let us in the gates. They nodded to Jesse; it seemed like she had influence even at the academy. I parked, and she looked at me again. "Derek, if we date, and that's still an if; I haven't decided yet. But if we do, it can't affect our work. All right?"

I nodded. That just meant I would have to fight for her harder.


	18. Chapter 18

**Jesse POV**

We entered Quantico pretty quickly, and the security guards nodded at me. I waved at them, and made a mental note to send them something good for Christmas this year. It might seem like something petty to do, but it was nice to have people who would do anything for you, in any level of the federal bureaucracy.

I smiled to myself as Daemon made a noise in the back seat. "Quiet Daemon. We're here to play nice."

Derek looked over at me, finally saying something after our last conversation, "You don't seem like the type of person to play nice."

I glanced over at him, "metaphorically speaking of course."

"So, I've been talking to Penelope lately-"

"Stop right there. I don't want to hear anything she said. Both her and Paul's notions on my family are completely off base."

He pulled into a parking space, and looked at me with a confused expression, "What? Oh, that your family is the Scottish mob. No, I don't believe that; even though it would explain a few things. I was just going to warn you about the surprise party she is going to throw for you the moment you step into the bullpen. Just thought you should prepare your dog so he doesn't terrorize the entire building. I would still like to have a desk come morning."

I looked at him and mumbled, "it's still morning; you've got a lot of time left for that to still happen."

Derek laughed, and it was nice and deep. It was short, but it made me smile. I liked hearing that sound. We walked inside the building, and I saw one of my husband's old friends. I blinked, and it turned out to be just another random agent. Immediately I felt guilty. I felt like I was cheating on my husband. I grunted to Derek, "I'll be up in a few minutes."

I went to the nearest bathroom, and almost emptied my stomach. Thankfully, I kept all my food. Daemon walked over to me, and leaned against my leg. That calmed me down a little, reminded me of Ian. I touched my necklace; it was the ring I gave my daughter for her third birthday. She never took it off. It helped calm me whenever I got in over my head. It seems this time was going to be another one of those times.


	19. Chapter 19

**Jesse POV**

I walked out of the bathroom and realized Derek hadn't even gotten on the elevator yet. I glanced at him, and then went in the opposite direction. I severely hoped he didn't follow me; I didn't need his questions right now.

I walked around the building for a few minutes, just to familiarize myself with it again. If I was going to be working here, I better not get lost on my first day back.

When I was completely satisfied that I wouldn't get lost, I headed up to Hotch's office. Everyone was already there, and talking to each other. Rossi was in his office, and Hotch was looking out at us. He made eye contact with me, and I wondered what he wanted. I may not have decided if I want to be here yet, but hopefully he wouldn't create any problems for me. He looked away, and I walked over to where Emily and Spencer were standing.

"That bottle cap trick is really neat. I haven't seen you do it in a couple years though. Why are you using it again?"

I looked over at Spencer. He had cut his hair in the past few days. It had gotten longer in training, and kept getting in his eyes when he was doing anything. "You put Alka-Seltzer in coke and mix it up? How do you not make a mess on your desk?"

Emily smiled and looked over at him, "Ha! Now I finally know the secret! I'm going to tell Garcia!"

I mouthed an apology to Spencer, and he just laughed, "Honestly, she could've just looked it up on the internet. There are many different sites that list that as the simplest magic trick to do. It's only a matter of science though. I'm surprised she's still interested in that."

Rossi was coming out of his office, but I looked back at Spencer, "sometimes people just want to keep magic as magic and not some simple science trick." He nodded, and I could tell he was thinking that over to say something to back to me. It would be very interesting to have a philosophical question with him one day.

Before he could say anything else, Penelope came running out, and had balloons in her hands, "Oh no," I pointed to her, "stop right there. No balloons, or streamers, or confetti, or anything of the sort. I have actually worked in this place before. That's how we met."

She pouted, "But that doesn't count. You were here to clear up something about your gangster family back in Scotland. The first time we worked together we had balloons and streamers and confetti. I wanted you coming back to work to be special."

I glared at her, "That was the first time we had a drink together. The first time we worked together, you nearly tackled me because I switched out your computer without you knowing."

I knew that would get her off topic, "You nearly destroyed all my programs too!"

"Gave you a faster running computer though, didn't I?" I smiled at her, and she looked like she was about to tackle me again before Derek came up behind her and held her back.

"Woah baby girl. Do you have to attack every new agent we get to this team? This one might actually be a keeper." He smiled and looked at me, "So the first time you to had a drink together there were balloons and streamers-"

Penelope interrupted him, "and confetti."

He smirked at that, "Do I get the same special treatment?"

I snorted, "The first time I had a drink with Penelope, it was Mardi gras. It was at a computer convention in New Orleans. There's always those things when Mardi Gras is happening."

Rossi had finally came over to join us, "Do you go there every year? I seem to remember having the same occasion with you."

"The first time we met I was thirteen. I couldn't legally have a drink in the states, in case you couldn't remember old man."

Hotch opened his door and said, "Conference room; now."

We all walked over there, and I could here Rossi mumble, "Since when has the legality of a notion ever stopped you before?"

I could here Spencer and Derek laugh. It looked like it would be Rossi who caused me trouble, not Hotch. At least it was good-natured though.

Penelope got up the stairs, and realized she was still holding the balloons. She looked at me, then looked back at the balloons. She gave me an evil grin, and raced back to the desks in the bullpen. I stopped to watch what she was doing; I think everybody did. She looked at me again, and pointed to a desk, "this is your desk for now. If these balloons are not here tomorrow, I will be very mad. Got it?"

"What are you going to do? Spray confetti all over my desk?" Daemon leaned into my legs; he hated balloons. "Besides, the dog hates balloons."

She glared at me, "Better be here tomorrow Red, or you got some explaining to do."

Derek leaned over to me, "you better just agree with her. Come up with some excuse later why you can't have them on your desk. She's already got streamers up in her office."

I laughed, and raised my hands in defeat, "Fine, but you have to explain to Hotch why she's taking over my desk…and why she has streamers up in her office."

Hotch came back out to see where we were, "Oh she made sure she had permission first." We all looked at him surprised, "Well considering we all disappeared for two weeks, some streamers were the least of my worries when it comes to the abilities of Penelope Garcia."

"Oh, it's nice to hear you say such nice things to me G-man."

Emily piped in, "You should've seen what she did to my house after Doyle was finally killed. She ambushed me for a week, and never let me out of her sight!"

I smiled, but I knew it wouldn't reach my eyes. Penelope had done something similar to me when my sister died. We walked into the conference room, and I made sure I was last. Everyone picked his or her seats, and I grabbed a cup of tea.

Spencer noted my peculiar choice, "that tea's probably been sitting their for years. The only one who drinks tea around here is Garcia, and she hoards her stash in her office." I threw the box out, and tuned out his facts about tea. I heard a snippet about something in ancient Japan, and a few other countries. He looked at me as I sat down across from him, "You can have some coffee. Rossi may drink at least half a pot each morning, but we make plenty for everyone else."

Rossi mumbled an unintelligible response, and I chose to ignore him, "Can't have coffee beans. It's something about the mixture of coffee beans, raw caffeine, and pure sugar that messes with my eye sight."

"But I thought that was related to bullet fragments in your brain."

I could tell Hotch was getting impatient, "that only enhanced it. I've had slight vision problems since I was born. They're genetic."

Hotch stood up, "all right. I hope everyone had a good rest, because this next case may take some time."

He nodded to Garcia, and she turned the projector on, "We're going old school on this one." She also handed out case files to everyone.

"Six coe-eds have been killed so far in Moscow, Idaho."


	20. Chapter 20

**Jesse POV**

As soon as we approached the tarmac, Daemon started to whine. He knew the reaction I had with altitudes sometimes. It really messed with my eyesight. But, I was working again, and couldn't let that bother me.

Hotch looked back at me, "Graeme, you said your dog would be fine with airplanes. Is this going to be a problem?"

Of course, the one person I didn't want to hear my dog whine did. "He'll be fine. I've got dog treats in my bag."

Emily walked up to me. We both weren't really sure of where we stood yet, but we were friendly enough to each other. "Are you going to bring him into the local police stations? Won't that cause too many questions?"

We walked up the stairs into the plane, "He's good for chasing unsubs down too."

I stepped inside, and everyone looked to see my reaction. I looked around, saw the cream colored chairs and couches. I noticed the hiding places on board, and other weapons stashing areas. Derek looked at me, already seated on the long couch, "Nothing? You see this baby for the first time, and we don't even get a look of surprise?"

I shrugged my shoulders and plopped down on the couch opposite him. Daemon immediately jumped up next to me, and laid his head in my lap. "I've got my own jet Derek; with a private bedroom on board. The whole thing's soundproof. When you've got as much money as my family does, its hard to be surprised by things."

Spencer looked over from his chair, "I've heard estimates, but exactly how rich is your family? And why do you say it's only their money, don't they share it with you?"

Well, I suppose we were going to have this conversation sometime, "Considering I'm the sole heir to my family, it is all mine. But, my own personal business makes at least half as much, so I don't even need it." Hotch looked at me impatiently, he wanted to get this started, "Let's just say that the people who are friendly to us in Scotland will never want for a thing."

Emily looked over at me, trying to really assess my wealth. I could see her scrutinizing each article of clothing, how soft my hair was, if I had a manicure, and she even looked at Daemon's collar. She wouldn't find any hints there; I bought my clothes as a mix from thrift shops to straight off of Fashion week. She would be thoroughly confused.

Hotch handed files to everyone again, "These are the pictures of victims, and all their injuries."

I flipped through them quickly, and then looked back up to him. He looked stern, like he was unimpressed that I flipped through them so nonchalantly. "How in depth do you want us to go?"

"Give me your first impression." Before I could open my mouth he said, "While looking at the pictures."

I opened them again and looked at the first one, a full body picture of the first victim. This was a picture of him for his resume, a full body picture, "White male approximately 22, unmarried, right handed, but favors his left while pitching, upper middle class to upper class, highly educated, but hasn't yet graduated." I looped up at Hotch, and he motioned for me to continue onto the next picture. I took in the next picture, "slashed throat from left to right indicating a right handed perpetrator. The 37 stab wounds are superficial- either the UNSUB wasn't strong enough or wasn't sure of his actions. Ah, he wasn't sure of his actions. The break of the shin is an odd one."

Spencer piped in, "Have you seen it before?"

I get it, they were all assessing my abilities, "In Interpol I have. The UNSUB literally braced the leg against something, and took a knife to cut it off. It's sloppy, yet has some precision. He's not a doctor, but has some practice in cutting bones. It looks like this one was interrupted, that's why it's only a break."

I looked up to Hotch, and he nodded to let the rest of the team voice their thoughts. I tuned them out; I already knew what they were saying anyway. I looked through the pictures again, and noticed every detail. I heard someone say, "one attacker, probably African American in his forties. Agile, yet may limp. There's a drag in the sand where the mass grave was found."

I looked up at that, "Wrong." Everyone looked confused. "Sometimes I limp because of my injuries, and I've never seen a limp leave those marks."

Emily looked at me, "Well your limp is probably different from every other limp in the world. No two limps can be the same."

I thought it over some while looking at the picture and mumbled to myself, "Not a limp, these aren't obvious hesitation signs. Even if he walked with a cane, he wouldn't leave those marks. Yet, it looks like these are similar to a limp." I looked up and pointed to the lines on my picture, and showed everyone. I finally recognized the marks, "That's the sign of a prosthetic. Not a full leg, but maybe just under the knee."

Rossi looked at me, "How can you be sure?"

"It's a slight limp yes, but those marks indicate that the UNSUB has had the prosthetic for many years, maybe in fact almost his whole life. If it was his whole leg, there would be more hesitation in the footprints. If he had only had the limb a few years, the limp would be more obvious."

Emily looked at me, "So it is a limp."

I shook my head, "There are obvious differences between a limp and a prosthetic. He's too proud to use a cane. Some of the bodies were found when it was raining, yet the rain doesn't alter the footprints. He buried most of them in the heat. The city's had a drought recently, and the rain didn't ruin the footprints too much. It means he was out in the middle of the day, in peak sunlight hours burying the bodies. He knows the areas, and the perfect times to bury the bodies. These bodies were buried the last time it rained before the drought." I looked up at Hotch again.

"How can you tell?"

"No one spotted him. Or else we would've been called in sooner, with a suspect already in custody."

He nodded, and we continued to talk about the pictures. I only half tuned in, I was focused more on the earliest pictures of the crime scene.

I noticed something in the corner of a few of the pictures, but before the thought could fully formulate in my mind, Hotch told us we were landing. I looked at everyone, and buckled my seat belt like they were. Hopefully the thought would fully come to mind later on.


	21. Chapter 21

**Jesse POV**

I started to feel a little pressure behind my eyes when we landed, but thought nothing of it. That was one of the hazards of me being on a plane. It sucked. I whistled, and Daemon ran down the stairs, and licked my hand. I looked at the surroundings, and briefly listened as the SUVs were being unloaded from the plane. Everything seemed to be normal, but I knew this wasn't the town we'd be staying in. We had about an hour's drive to the first crime scene, and even further to the state police station. I looked at Hotch, "Where do you want me?"

Spencer got in the car with Emily and Hotch seemed like he'd get in that car, "Go with Rossi and Morgan. You go to the crime scenes and evaluate them. When you're done meet us at the state police headquarters."

I nodded, and looked at Rossi and Derek, "Who wants to drive?" They looked at each other, and then grinned. Derek waved the keys in the air, and moved to the drivers seat. I shrugged at Rossi, and held the door open for Daemon to get in.

Just as I was about to shut the door, I heard Hotch yell, "And don't let your dog contaminate the crime scenes."

I smirked, and got in. Rossi was in the passenger seat, so that meant Daemon could sprawl out all over me. I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. Rossi leaned back and poked me in the leg, "Don't go to sleep. We'll be there in an hour."

I opened one eye, "Yeah, I got that from the map I looked at on the plane. I also didn't get much sleep last night, so I suggest you let me sleep. Wake me up when we get there." Then I closed my eye.

I heard Rossi snort, and mumble something along the lines of, "never waking you up again, want to keep all my limbs."

I smiled, and then fell asleep.

**Derek POV**

I looked in the rearview mirror not five minutes later, and Jesse was already asleep. Rossi merely looked at me and shook his head.

Eventually, he couldn't take the silence. "What did you think of that training program that Jesse put us through?"

I looked back at her just to make sure she was still sleeping, "I think she's bat crazy. But I also think she'll be a good addition to our team."

I could see Rossi looking at me out of the corner of my eye, and he had a smirk on his face, "Kid, I may be old, but I'm not dead."

I had to distract him, "I'm so telling Prentiss you admitted you're old."

He snorted, and it kind of reminded me of when Jesse snorts. It doesn't sound feminine, but when she does it, it is the- stop that thinking right there Morgan. Jesse doesn't need that right now. She only agreed to drinks. And, she was hesitant about even that.

Sigh, how I am going to work with her?

Rossi cleared his throat, "I presume your thoughts were on a certain someone?" He paused a beat, and then added, "A certain red headed someone?"

I looked over at him, and saw a twinkle in his eyes. Damn. The gig was up. How did he get so sneaky to know my every thought? Oh, right. I'm a guy. He's a guy; we all think alike. Damn. I was so screwed.

I shook my head, "I was just wondering how well she'd fit into the team." I looked in the rearview mirror to make sure Jesse was still asleep, and I could see the dog staring at me. Even he knew I was lying. I was so screwed.

Rossi mumbled, "Bull shit." Then he raised his voice a little to make sure I could hear, "We both know you're just trying to get into her pants. You've had maybe two serious relationships your whole life. She was married Derek; _married._ She even had a daughter."

I sighed, we were going to have this talk then, "I know. I also know you won't believe me when I say that I'm not just trying to sleep with her-"

"You're right, I don't believe you."

I held up a hand for him to stop, "Rossi, I'm a man. I didn't say that was not a part of my reason. But I honestly want to get to know her."

He looked at me again, and then looked back at Jesse, "She'll kill me if she ever knew I was having this talk with you, but someone needs to look out for her. All her family is in Scotland. But what the hell; I've already had three marriages. I've lived enough." He took a deep breath, and then started again, "Derek, she hasn't recovered from the death of her husband and child yet. I'm not sure she ever fully will. Even when she was younger, she wasn't exactly the most mentally stable person I'd met, but with good reason. She won't be able to survive if you break her heart."

He let me think for a minute, and then I waved for him to continue, "Not even the director knows the full story of what happened that day, and he was the first on scene. He kept her alive until the paramedics got there. He was literally five minutes too late."

I blew out the breath I was holding, "Oh shit. No wonder he is still so defensive of her."

He nodded and continued, "She was barely lucid at the funeral. I'm still not even sure how she made it, but she did. Derek, the girl's been through enough. Leave her alone." His voice got hard at the last part, and I knew I had to defend myself here.

"But I want to try with her. She's… I don't know. She's different."

Rossi thought for a minute, "Fine. I can't stop you, but listen to her history first. Then see if you can take it."

I was confused, hadn't he just told me her history, "What?"

"I know. That's enough to kill some people, but she's been through more. She lost her twin when she was seventeen to the same guy who killed her family. Her mother was eight months pregnant when she died, and the baby didn't survive. Derek, even if you wanted to have a relationship with Jesse, I'm not sure there's enough left of her to have one. She hardly survives day to day now."

"I don't care. Like I said, she's different. I can't explain it, but she is."

He nodded my head, and we continued on the drive like nothing happened. When Jesse asked if we talked about anything interesting when she woke up, neither of us said a word.


	22. Chapter 22

**Jesse POV**

I woke up on the tail end of Derek's and Rossi's conversation, so I was a little confused at first. Then I realized Rossi was having the "protective father" speech with Derek. Oh God. I pretended like I was asleep for a few more minutes, and then stretched and opened my eyes. Rossi glanced back at me, and then tried to subtly nudge Derek to clue him I was awake. "How far away are we?"

Derek looked at me in the rearview mirror, "Only about ten minutes." I nodded, and then reached into the back to grab Daemon's vest. I whistled softly, and he tried to stand, but could only kneel slightly. I strapped his vest on so the world would know he was a service animal, and as soon as I was done, we pulled up to the crime scenes.

I opened the door, and saw some sheriff's officers on scene. I looked at Rossi and Derek, and they nodded for me to take the lead. I shook my head, they knew what they were doing. I still had to get back in the game. Besides, there was no way I could get Daemon to crawl down the ditch without contaminating evidence. "I'll get Daemon to sit by the car. You go ahead." They nodded, and slid down the ditch.

I looked down at Daemon, and was trying to figure out how I could get him to stay where he was while he was working. He panicked if he was wearing his vest and he couldn't see me. That would definitely cause problems. I looked around the crime scene, because Daemon was shifting around, trying not to run ahead of me. I finally had him sit at the top of the ditch, and then climbed down to join the boys.

"What have we got?" Rossi asked, looking at me.

I glared at him, "I'm not a coroner." I gestured to the man kneeling, "Ask him."

I glanced at the body once more, and knew everything I needed to know; gunshot to the back of the head, many torture wounds, and clothes ripped off the body. The body looked to be female, black hair, possibly artificial coloring, and around 22. I walked the perimeter of the scene, and saw the broken branches, the trampled leaves, and other signs of a struggle, "She was alive when the UNSUB brought her here."

I looked back to Derek and Rossi, and pointed to the branches and leaves. They nodded, and wrote it down on their pads of paper. The coroner confirmed this, and kept talking. I tuned him out, I wanted to focus on the scene, not the body. Something was off here, but I couldn't figure out what. Finally, I peeked under a bush and saw a footprint, "Over here. We've got a pretty good footprint." I looked back to Derek and Rossi, "This scene is hasty. He was interrupted, or couldn't get the release he needed. I think it's the latter. He moved the girl from his hiding spot early. Then, he didn't put the body in the same positions as the other; he just dumped her. If he hasn't destroyed his clothes, there might be some residual blood splatter on them."

Derek walked up to look at the footprint, "How do you know for sure the UNSUB's male?"

I motioned to the footprint, "This will be a generic boot, and an average size. There's nothing peculiar about the UNSUB, so he'll want to keep it that way. If I had bought the same boots, my instep would be different. The impression in the ground would be different. It would be the same as the boot, but with emphasis on my usual footprint. This UNSUB has his shoes the right size. They aren't too big or too small."

I held the bush for the crime scene tech to get an impression of it, and then stood up.

"Let's go to the next crime scene. It's a couple says old, but there might still be some stuff work looking at."

Rossi had started walking around the crime scene, and looked at me at this point. "How are you already done? We've hardly been here ten minutes."

I looked at him, "Eidetic memory. Not as good as Reid's but close. Let's go." I turned and started climbing up the ditch, not even waiting for him to answer.

In the background, I barely heard Rossi say, "See? She's a pain."

I laughed, and grabbed Daemon's leash and walked to the car. I got in the back seat again, and by the time I had Daemon settled, Derek had started the car, and Rossi had finally caught up.

The next crime scenes were all the same; I'd be done in about ten minutes, and if Derek and Rossi weren't, I'd go sit in the car on my laptop.

Finally, we ended up at the sheriff's station. We made introductions, and shared information about the case. All in all, it took a couple hours, and we were exhausted by the end of it. Hotch told us all to go to the hotel, and get some sleep.

The hotel was cheap enough that we all got our own room. I took Daemon's vest off, and got ready for bed. I shut the light off, and tried to sleep, even though I knew I wouldn't get much. This case was going to be hard, simply because this was my first case back.

I thought back to some of the training exercises I led the team through, and laughed. The craziest one was at my shooting range.

_~FLASHBACK~_

_I drove up to the range, and passed through the gates. We were all crammed into one car, because I didn't want anybody getting lost. Daemon was in the way back, and he kept whining because he didn't have enough room. I ignored him. The dog knew he was spoiled, and tried to get all the attention he could get. _

_I parked the car, and the idle chitchat between my team members stopped. "We're here?"_

_I nodded, and got out of the car. We walked inside, and I called out, "Hello? You here?"_

_Someone whistled, and I whistled back, "It's me Billy, you can come on out."_

_Someone walked around the corner, and flipped on the lights, "Ye nearly gie me a heart attack chief. Yere early. We wasna' expecting ye fer a few hours. Everything ok?" His Scottish accent was thick, it seems he had come straight here from the airport._

_I grunted in acknowledgement, and turned around to face my team, "We're here to shoot. Everyone has their weapons?" They nodded, and I waved Billy over, "Billy here is going to take them from you-" I paused to look at him, and continued, "nicely. Aren't you Billy?"_

_He nodded, and mumbled something along the lines of, "Take all the fun out of everything."_

_A few more people came out of the door that Billy came out of. I looked at their faces, and smiled. They were all 6' 4" or taller, and had bright red hair, "Cousins! What are you doing here?"_

_Cameron, the tallest, was the first to speak. He had blue eyes, which looked menacing with his red hair, "We heard you had taken up training again, and we wanted to participate in the fun."_

_Immediately, I tensed up and my voice became hard, "No." I turned around to leave. If they were going to join, we could come back later. Cameron put a hand on my shoulder to stop me, and I turned around and wrenched it behind his back. I whispered in his ear, "I told you if you ever practiced your version of training outside of Scotland, I'd break your arm. Do you want me to fulfill that promise?" I glared at my other cousins, Duncan, Kerr, and Mitchell. "Ye remember my promise?"_

_I could see the fear in their eyes, and was glad they knew their place. I wrenched Cameron's arm up, and heard him exhale in pain, then I let go. I turned to look at my team, "Lets go. Think before you act next time." I directed the last comment to my cousins._

_Kerr spoke up just as I reached the door, "Chieftain, we have na broken our promise. We merely came here to watch. Apologies, captain." I looked at him, and then at the others._

"_Fine. One move towards any of them, and I'll brake your balls off with my bare hands." I raised one eyebrow up to see if they'd call my bluff._

_Duncan spoke up, "Graeme, even though we're all taller than you, we're still scared shitless of you. Like we'd go against you. We're always the first to pledge our loyalty." I knew he was talking about the Gathering, but didn't want to say much in front of my team._

_I turned around, "Any of them go near you, and you tell me. Got it?" My team all nodded. "Good. Let's go." I led them into a separate room, the main shooting room. My cousins set up the paper targets, and hit the button for them all to slide back. I went to the opposite side of the room, and pulled out some of my guns. They were the same make and model as the standard FBI issue._

_I handed everyone one, and when I handed Emily hers, she spoke up, "Why can't we just use our own."_

_I stopped, and looked her in the eye, "You're familiar with your gun. You could tell me the difference between yours and Derek's; even though they're the same make. Each gun has a slightly imperceptible weight difference. Or maybe a nick on some part of the gun. You need to be able to shoot with any gun, in any circumstance."_

_I passed on from her, and gave Rossi his, "Can you still see in the dark as well as you used to?" I could tell he wanted to guess at what I was going to make him do. He nodded, and I handed him a gun._

_Once everyone had a gun, I moved towards my stall. It wasn't really a stall, because we were only behind tables, but still. It was my area, and no one ever used my table. I pulled a blind cloth out of my pocket, and tied over my eyes. My cousins were mumbling, and I hushed them. "I'm going to teach you how to shoot in the dark. And fight with a weapon in the dark." I whistled, and could hear the echoes off where my paper target was. I felt for the button on my table, and all the targets started moving back and forth along the wall they were up against. I stopped my whistling, "You hit the wrong target, you have to run five miles. You miss your target, you run five miles. Got it?"_

_Everyone said yes, and my cousins guffawed, "That's all you make them do? RUN? Geesh, you American's are pansies."_

_I hated to do this, but my cousins didn't always know when to shut up. I whistled again, and could tell my team was at their tables. I picked my knife from the table, and threw it in my cousin's direction. I pulled my blindfold off, and noticed it hit the wall not even an inch away from Cameron's ear. I stalked over to him, and pulled it out of the wall, "Leave. Now. The rest of you may stay, but Cameron, you've overstayed your welcome. Tell grandfather the next time he sends someone to check up on me, that they're not allowed to disrupt my business."_

_I turned back towards my team, "I'll teach you how to do that." I turned off the lights, started whistling, and told them to start shooting. _

_It took us two days, but eventually, they were at least hitting the right paper. Hotch even hit the outer ring of the circles on the target. It took us only a day to make them okay fighters in the dark. No one ended up beating me, but they could at least hold their own for awhile. It would do. If they ever needed to use these skills, hopefully it would at least keep them alive long enough until help arrived._

_~End Flashback~_

I was glad I had taught them those skills, it looked like we might need to use them in this case. A UNSUB that tortured his victims, and then shot them was especially dangerous, it showed he intended to kill as many people as possible. I severely hoped no one would get hurt on this case.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Hey guys, any reviews yet? Nope? Oh well, I'll just continue on then. **

**I do not own Criminal Minds.**

**Jesse POV**

Within three days there as another victim. Hotch, Emily, and Reid went to the scene, while Derek, Rossi and I were just arriving at the victim's parents house. This girl hadn't even been reported missing before she was found dead.

I opened the car door, and pulled Daemon out, "What are the parent's names?" I asked Derek.

"Annaleigh and Brandon Jones. The father's a therapist, the mom a stay at home wife. Involved in PTO's like crazy until their daughter left for college a few years ago. Even now, she volunteers at the daughter's college weekly. They were very close."

I nodded, and walked up the path to the house. I felt sorry for the parents, I knew what it was like to be on the other side of the questioning. I knocked on the door, and a woman answered. "Hello. My name is Jesse Graeme, I'm a Supervisory Special Agent with the FBI, and these are my partners SSA Derek Morgan, and SSA David Rossi. May we come in?" This woman did not look like Annaleigh Jones; I assumed she was her sister.

The woman nodded, and said, "Annaleigh and Brandon are in the living room." She led us through the kitchen, and the dining room. I noticed the pictures of the family, and many pictures of the daughter. The latest picture was blown up on the mantel; it looked to be a picture of the daughter and some friends and family at a beach. Just as we walked into the room, Mr. Jones stood up to shake our hands. I could clearly see the grief on his face. We introduced ourselves again, and Mr. Jones invited us to sit on the couch while he got us some drinks.

I sat directly in front of Mrs. Jones, and leaned forward to show her I was paying attention. "Mrs. Jones, is it all right if my colleagues and I ask you a few questions? We want to know some more about your daughter, Rose."

She mumbled something that I couldn't here, and I asked her to repeat herself, "Rosie. If you want to know more about her, you should know no one called her Rose. It was always Rosie. Even her professors learned to call her Rosie."

"It sounds like everybody liked her."

Mr. Jones came in with some water, and gave us each a glass, "Everybody loved Rosie. She was in every volunteer group at school, and was a tutor to the local kids."

I nodded, she sounded like a sweet girl, "Can we see some pictures of her?"

Mr. Jones immediately got up, and pulled some scrapbooks down from the closet, "Here. These are from her birth, up until a few months ago."

We asked some more questions about Rosie, her personality, he habits, her whole life. Eventually, we had to ask the question though, "Mr. and Mrs. Jones, why didn't you report Rosie missing?"

I heard Mrs. Jones stifle a sob, and Mr. Jones, leaned in to comfort her. He glared at me, "Have you ever lost a child, Agent Graeme?"

I pulled my wallet out and showed them a picture of my daughter, "She was three when she died. I regret every single day that I didn't kill the son of a bitch for what he did to her." I looked to Derek and Rossi; they slowly left the room so I could create some report with the family.

Mrs. Jones leaned to grab the picture of her, "Beautiful. How old would she be today?"

"Ten. Her birthday would've been about a month ago."

Mr. Jones looked at the picture, and then handed it back to me, "Does it get easier?"

I looked him in the eye, "I'm still trying to figure that out. My daughter was killed as she was watching my husband and I die. She had no clue what was going on. There are days I am very grateful for that, that she wasn't more aware."

Mrs. Jones looked at me, "Will you find the man that killed our daughter?"

"Ma'am, you have some of the best minds the FBI has to offer. Combine that with modern day technology, and we'll find the bastard that did this. I promise."

Mrs. Jones nodded, "When can we see her?"

I was waiting for this question, "I'm not sure that's such a good idea right now. I haven't seen her body yet, but if you want, I can identify the body. That way, you can remember Rosie for what she was, not like this."

They both nodded, looking grateful that I had offered. Mr. Jones handed me a picture, "Take this; it's the most recent picture we have of her. Will that be enough?" I nodded, and they walked us out. Just as I was about to leave, Mr. Jones put a hand on my shoulder, "Agent Graeme, I'm going to hold you to that promise." I nodded, and we left.

As we got into the car, I vaguely noticed that the parents hadn't said anything about Daemon. I chocked that up to the fact that service animals were becoming more common.

Again, I got in the back, Derek drove, and Rossi was in the passenger seat, "Nice job kid."

I looked at Rossi, "I'm hardly the youngest on the team you know. It's about time you stopped calling me that."

Derek decided to pipe up, "How old are you exactly? You've said you started at the academy on your eighteenth birthday, and that you've worked for the FBI for ten years. But your file says you've worked here longer."

"Don't you know it's rude to ask a woman their age? Besides, how old do you think I am?" Before he could answer, I stopped him, "Don't answer that. I'm thirty. I've taken plenty of leaves of absences from work, so it only adds up to about ten years of work." I should probably tell him the whole story, "I married Ian when I was seventeen. I miscarried, and we tried a few more times. Eventually, we had Sophia when I was twenty. We miscarried another time, and realized Sophie was all we needed." I smiled at that, and didn't realize I had finally told Derek her name.

**Derek POV**

That was the first time I had ever heard her say her daughter's name. She had even told me her nickname. I couldn't even tell if she had meant to, but I was grateful. If Jesse needed a friend, then I could be a friend. "Wisdom. Fitting. From what I hear, she sounded very smart." I looked at Jesse in the rearview mirror, and she smiled.

"Yeah, she was."

**Jesse POV**

"Yeah she was." And suddenly, I was very glad that Derek Morgan was my friend. Maybe I would go out for drinks with him after all.


	24. Chapter 24

**Jesse POV**

Spencer and I were currently trying to compile a geographic profile. We had the locations of the bodies, and where the people were taken, but it just didn't fit. We had been staring at this for twenty minutes, each occasionally throwing out ideas.

"What if we made the dump sites one color, and the kidnap locations another?" I was desperate for an idea. Spencer and I both knew that wouldn't help, but we did it anyway.

I had been out interviewing witnesses when Hotch suggested I help Spencer. I suggested he didn't like my style of interviewing; I sympathized a lot. He probably thought I babied the witnesses when I needed to be subjective.

Spencer suspected the same, so he put me to work. But we were both stuck.

We stared, rotated it, and almost stood on our heads, but it made no sense. They were literally everywhere, no pattern to them.

I lost track of time, and Spencer finally suggested we go to the hotel. I looked outside and noticed how dark it was. I rubbed my eyes and agreed. This was getting too frustrating to be of any help.

I let him drive and I closed my eyes. I had a slight headache, but I suspected it was just from stress.

We pulled up to the hotel, and Spencer told me to come by his room in the morning when I woke up.

I nodded, and went to my room. I opened the door, and Daemon came running over. I knew he didn't appreciate being separated from me for the day, but it seemed to ease some of Hotch's nerves. I would take him out for a run when I woke up, even though I hardly knew the city. Besides, I had the map memorized from looking at it for so long. I went to sleep, but didn't get more than a few hours rest. I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to take that run.

I changed into some sweats and a sports bra, the grabbed Daemon's collar. I didn't know the city's lease laws, but I didn't want to cause any more trouble for Hotch. With that, I left a note for Spencer at the desk, and took off. I started out slow so I could get a feel for the city. I went to some different places the victims were kidnapped from. Because it was so dark out, it was eerie. I was glad I had my gun and my knife.

I jogged for another hour, and the sun started to come up. I texted Spencer to let him know I'd meet him at the station later, and continued on. Awhile later I pictured the map in my mind, and figured out where I was. I was out of breath now, but I wanted to continue a little further. I ran past one of the victim's homes, and it clicked. I knew what we were missing from the geographic profile; the location of their house. It all made sense now.

I started sprinting towards the station, hoping to meet someone before they went inside. I left my badge at the hotel, and I didn't want to waste time.

It took me about five minutes, but I showed up at the SUV just as Spencer and Hotch were getting out. I ran over to them, and bent down out of breath, "I know what's missing from the land profile." In between every few words I had to stop for breath. I hadn't run that hard in a long time. I clutched my side in pain as it cramped up.

I looked up to Hotch still panting, he sighed, "There's another body. There's not enough time for you to go back in change. I'll ride with Spencer. You two can add to the geographic profile later."

I just nodded and grabbed the keys. I had finally figured out where to look, or at least was further along in the process of it, and I was too late. This was not good. The UNSUB's timeline was getting shorter and shorter; he knew we were here.

* * *

We got to the scene, and the LEOs starting looking at my scars. At this point, I didn't really care. I wasn't going to explain to them, and I glared at them whenever they looked at me. My tattoo was still covered up from when I had showed the team my scars originally so I didn't care. Not very many people knew about the tattoo and I preferred to keep it that way.

I walked towards the body, and knelt down to look at it. I made sure to take in every detail, every possible piece of evidence. This killer was random, and we needed to find out why. I looked up to Hotch, "This is the first victim over 50. The UNSUB knows we're here."

I could tell he disagreed, "Very few people in town know we're here. It's not possible."

I looked at the body again, "This is a small town. None of the victims are originally from here, only dumped here. People know we're here."

Another SUV pulled up, and Derek, Emily and Rossi all piled out. Derek handed me a cup of tea, and a shirt. I tossed it on over my sports bra, and nodded my thanks.

I stood up to let them look, and walked the perimeter of the scene. This was different than the last one, but not as rushed. How was his timeline shortening, but at the same time he was taking his time with the bodies? How was that physically possible?

Reid came over next to me, "You know something."

I shook my head, "Something's off here. Daemon's at the top of the hill, and even he can tell."

Reid looked at me, "Dog's react based on their owner's emotions."

"I know. But this is different. I didn't notice it until he reacted."

"Well what do you think it is? What's different about this crime scene than the others?"

I played over the other crime scenes in my mind, and visibly laid it over this scene. It was like a 3-D map. I walked around again, and stopped at each individual item. There was some form of vegetation on each scene, but each at different locations. They were never in the same place twice. I looked up at Reid, "I know what's different." I walked over to the bush at the edge of the scene. I knelt next to it, "Here's DNA." Hotch came over and had someone bag the piece of skin. Jesse looked back to Reid, "I need the geographic profile and a white board or something to write on." He nodded, and I walked to a SUV. Daemon jumped and got in, while Reid explained to Hotch where we were going. I drove this time, I needed the mindless activity to think.

**Derek POV**

This morning in the shower was difficult. I couldn't stop thinking of Jesse, and how easily she worked with the team, well most of the team. Emily was friendly, but still a little reserved. Hotch was outright hostile at points. I kind of understood, but still. She deserved a chance. Then, I started thinking of when I barged in on her sleeping. To make matters worse, when I got to the crime scene she was wearing a sports bra, and was sweating. Emily told me she had gone for a run, but Jesse was crouched over the body. I saw a bead of sweat run down her back, only exasperated by the heat of the drought. It was August, and we were all sweating. I gulped as the bead of sweat traveled into Jesse's pants. I noticed a smudge of color on her back, but then she put on the shirt I gave her and it was gone.

Rossi walked by me and nudged me a little. His look said he knew what I was thinking. I cleared my throat, and walked past him. I started talking to one of the officers, listening to how they found the body. It was pretty routine; a local found it and called it in, just like the rest of the bodies.

Jesse and Reid walked past at one point, and went back to the station, but I kept studying the scene. I took notes on my little pad, and just observed. About a half hour later we all left and let the LEOS finish up. We all went to do our separate tasks, and decided we'd meet back at the station right before dinner.

* * *

Reid had called earlier and told us to get dinner without the two of them, that they'd order in. They were on a roll and didn't want to stop. So it wasn't until about seven that night that we walked into the conference room that we had been allowed to use, and Jesse was writing furiously on a white board. She would look at the geographic map, and then continue writing.

I looked at Spencer, and he just shrugged his shoulders, "She told me not to interrupt her until she was finished."

Slowly the whole team drifted in, and finally Jesse was done. She turned to look at us, "I can tell you where the UNSUB works or live within a block."

We just looked at her, we could never be that precise before. Hotch was the first to speak, "That's not possible. We can never be that accurate."

She looked to Reid, "Double check my math. You know I'm right."

Immediately he looked at the map, then the board. It took him a few minutes, and it looked like he was writing in his head the way his finger was moving. He was slowly mumbling to himself, and Jesse only paid attention to him. Whenever he would say something she caught, she either corrected him or explained her reasonings.

After about fifteen minutes of the two of them looking at it, Reid looked at Hotch, "She's brilliant. I can't believe I've never thought of this formula before. If used correctly, in this case, she could probably predict where the next victim's body would be dumped." He turned back to Jesse, "How did you come up with this formula?"

"It's all in threes, but that's specific to this UNSUB. The first link is the place where the person lived, the second where they were kidnapped, and the third where the body was dumped. Plus, he had to find different locations that never had the same foliage in the same place. I'll bet the UNSUB has OCD. I didn't see it until right before dinner, but I suspected as much earlier in the day. This is the fifth version of this formula."

Emily looked at the map, "There's only one problem. The area you predicted is in the middle of the woods."

Jesse looked at me, "Whose driving?" I held out the keys, I had no clue where that part of land was.

Before we could leave though, Hotch stopped us. "It'll be too dark by the time we get there. Go get some sleep, be back here at seven tomorrow."

Jesse looked like she was about to protest, but I stopped her. She still took the keys and walked out to the car. As Reid walked past I heard him mumble, "I can't believe it was so obvious."

Jesse said her IQ was less than Reid's. So why was something so easy to her, complicated to him? Was she actually smarter than him? What else didn't I know about this girl?

* * *

**Jesse POV**

Again, I didn't get much sleep. I took Daemon for a run again, following the same route I did yesterday. I let Daemon off his leash, so he could run a little ahead. I had been running for about a half hour, when I noticed someone following me a few blocks back on a toy scooter. I could faintly hear the clicks it was making on the pavement. I sped up a little, and it did too. I whistled for Daemon to come near, and he kept pace with me. I slowly pulled my cell out, and attached the Bluetooth. It had been ages since I used one of these, but I was glad I still had it. Quietly, I called Derek.

After a few rings, he finally picked up, " 'Lo?"

I checked the time, it was three in the morning, "It's me. Don't panic, but someone's following me."

I could hear him bolt up in bed, and he threw something at the other person in the room. I hoped he was rooming with Rossi, I never paid attention to what rooms the boys were staying in, "Where are you?" I could tell he had put it on speaker.

I gave him the cross streets, and the direction I was heading, "I have my gun and my knife, but I can't tell who it is. They have too much distance between us." I felt where my gun should be, "Fuck. I don't have my gun, only my knife." I really needed them to get here fast. I could hear the person behind me a little better, they had closed some of the distance. I told Derek what was happening, and turned a corner. "Call Garcia. Have her trace the GPS in my cell."

I could hear Rossi, "Jesse, do you recognize them?" I knew he meant 'Was Andrew out of jail?'

"No. Rossi, as far as I know, Andrew has nothing to do with this. I haven't heard from him in a few months."

"Good."

I snorted, "Maybe. It could be worse because we don't know who he is. We don't know all his habits yet." I had a suspicion it was the UNSUB, hence the scooter instead of a runner.

Derek had the phone again, "Rossi's waking everybody up. I'm on my way." His words were full of static.

"How cheap are cell signal blockers?"

"Fuck! Does he have one?"

I only heard two words out of that, but I got the gist of the message, "Considering I can't hear you right now, yeah. Bye." I hung up and slowed my running. I was going to catch this bastard, and now. They sped up, and I bent to tie my shoe. They got up behind me, and Daemon backed away. When they were five feet away, I pounced. They were up against the wall, and I threw my knife into their ear. I heard them cry out in pain, and knew I had hit my mark. They struggled against it, but could tell they'd rip their ear off it they went any further.

"You BITCH! What the hell are you fucking doing? You crazy slut!" I ignored the bastard, and sat on the edge of the curb.

I heard sirens, and soon enough Derek's SUV came careening down the street. Seconds later two other SUVs came. When Derek stopped short at the corner, he flung the door open and ran towards me. He knelt next to me, and cupped my face in his hands. "Are you ok? What happened after the call disconnected? Do you need EMTs?"

I shook my head, "I'm fine. He didn't even get the chance to touch me." Derek looked at my body to see if I was telling the truth, then he took his shirt off. I was a little confused until he gave it to me. It wasn't until then that I felt the chill in the air. "Thanks." He sat next to me, and put his arm around my shoulders. He rubbed his hand up and down my arm to warm me up. After about an hour, and countless people trying to interview me, Hotch finally said I could go back to the hotel while they brought the UNSUB to the station. I let Derek drive this time, and as soon as we got a few blocks away I said, "Turn around. There's no way in hell I'm going back to the hotel. I want to nail this bastard."

"Jesse come on. He almost got you, what you need now is more sleep. Let everyone else deal with that guy. I'll even stay with you."

"Derek, while I appreciate the thought, it's not that. I'm fine. Let's go to the station." He saw I wasn't going to back down, so he turned around.

"Fine, but if anyone asks, you had a gun to my head."

"Yup, the one I left on my hotel bedside table."

He looked at me and smiled, "Exactly."

I gave him a small smile, then turned to face the window.

We got to the station right as they were leading the guy into the building. We gave them a minute or two to get him into an interrogation room, then we went in the observation room. As soon as the guy sat down opposite from Emily, he took his prosthetic off. It was only a foot, and an ankle. I was right, and his prosthetic was on the left foot.

He looked Emily in the eye and said, "I'll only talk to the feisty red head with the dog." Daemon had fallen asleep in the car so we had just left him there.

Emily asked a few questions, and the UNSUB answered with witty versions of "Red Headed feisty chick."

Finally I threw my hands in the air, "Hotch, just let me talk to him. Give me ten minutes with him. I'll get him to talk."

He shook his head, "You were a potential victim, you're too close to this."

Derek pushed himself up from the wall, "That's bull Hotch, and you know it. We've all sat on in cases just like this. Besides, he didn't even touch her. The bandage on his ear proves that." I tried not to smirk, that would really not help my case now, "If it helps, I'll sit in with her." Derek still didn't have a shirt on, and I just laughed.

"Yeah, why not. It'll be fun." Hotch thought it over for another minute, then nodded. I left the room before he could change his mind. Derek followed and right outside the door, I turned and stopped. I took off my shirt, and handed it to him. "It'll distract him more if I'm not wearing the shirt, not you." I heard him chuckle, and he opened the door.

I sat down, and knew the covering of my tattoo had washed completely off because I heard the gasps in the microphone in my ear. My tattoo covered the upper portion of my back, and was of an eagle wrapped in the Scottish flag. In some of my scars, there were "tears" on the flag that showed the American flag. It was a very elegant, and detailed tattoo. I made sure not to show the UNSUB my back though.

I looked at the UNSUB, and realized he only matched half the profile, "You weren't alone."

"Well you cut right to the chase don't you slut."

Derek tensed at that, and I grabbed his knee under the table, I could handle myself, "Let me guess, he took pity on you because you aren't a full human being are you?"

His smile disappeared at that, "Bitch."

The conversation continued on like that until I heard Hotch say into the mike, "Two minutes."

I slightly nodded, and leaned forward, "Look, this man next to me? Only here for your protection. Quite frankly, you're lucky I wanted you alive." I moved my foot towards his so they were barely touching, "That knife could just have easily gone through your eye." At that he paled, and I knew I had him, "Talk."

"Fine. Just get this crazy bitch out of the room." He looked at Derek, "I'll only talk to you if you get her out of here." With a last glance at my chest, he put his head on the table. I winked at Derek.

I took this as my cue to leave. I left the interrogation room, and walked into the observation room, "There. I'm going to the conference room to get some sleep before we go look for the other guy. Wake me before then." I smirked, then left.


	25. Chapter 25

**Jesse POV**

Derek insisted he come back with me. I wasn't in the mood to argue. We walked into the hotel room, and I grabbed clothes to take a shower. Derek sat on the couch, and Daemon went and sat up on his lap. Daemon fell back asleep, and Derek looked like he was about to do so too. I motioned for him to lay on the bed, and I went into the bathroom. I looked in the mirror, and shivered. It seemed I was still cold. Derek and I were exhausted, who know how many hours of sleep we had both had?

I got in the shower, and turned it on warm. I stood there, just letting the water run down my body. I had almost gotten kidnapped again today. Why wasn't I more worried about this?

I knew Derek's presence helped. If he wasn't here, I'd probably freak out and leave for Scotland.

When the water turned cold, I got out. After I was dressed, I walked out to the bedroom. Derek was asleep on top of the covers, with his clothes on. I smiled; he looked so peaceful. I went over the couch, and was glad it was long enough. I was six feet, and I fit just right on the couch. I'm glad Derek moved to the bed, he wouldn't fit on here.

I immediately fell asleep.

I woke up at six, I was going to go for a short run. I wasn't even aware of the time, but I made sure to grab my gun this time. I went into the bathroom so I wouldn't wake anybody up, but when I got out, the lights were on. Derek was sitting on the edge of the bed in sweats and a wife beater. "Where do you think you're going?"

I gave him a look, "I can go out by myself Derek, I'm not five."

He stood up, "I know, but it's obvious you're still a target. The guy at the station clearly couldn't have kidnapped people, he wouldn't have the strength to remain on two feet. So, until we catch him, I'm your body guard; especially because you didn't have your gun yesterday. You're lucky no one told Hotch."

I walked to get Daemon's leash, "Fine. But you better keep up."

He smiled and nodded, "I'll keep up just fine." With that, we exited the hotel, and started jogging.

A few blocks into it I asked, "Where did Emily sleep last night?"

Derek turned to look at me, "She slept on the other bed in Rossi's room. You could've just taken the bed last night, there was an empty bed."

"I was fine. I sleep better on couches sometimes. Last night was just one of those nights. Besides, I didn't wake up once last night."

He nodded, and I could hear his breathing getting short, so I slowed, "You don't have to slow for me, I said I'd keep up."

I shook my head, "I don't need to go at such a grueling pace. I'd like to keep my knees for as long as possible."

He laughed, and Daemon nipped at his hand, "Hey."

Derek looked at me, "What he'd do that for?"

"He wants you to pay attention to where you're going. You almost hit a loose brick back there."

He looked at the dog, then back at me, "Oh, smart dog." I smiled and shook my head.

"Yeah."

About twenty minutes later, Derek was really having a hard time breathing. I turned back to the hotel, and he waved his thanks. I knew he wouldn't talk until his heart stopped pounding.

We sat on the benches right outside the hotel. I walked inside and grabbed a water bottle, and a wet rag. I handed Derek the bottle, then started rubbing Daemon down with the rag. I knew it would cool him off faster.

When I heard Derek's breathing slow, I looked at him, "You ok?"

He nodded, "Yeah. Just a little sore."

I looked at him again, "That short of a run shouldn't be that difficult, especially after the training we did."

He shrugged his shoulders, "I ate a lot yesterday. I haven't worked out the entire time we've been here."

I shook my head, "No, that wouldn't explain it." I saw Derek take another drink of water, then I snatched it out of his hands. I sniffed it a little, and noticed the smell was off. I sipped a little, then immediately spit it out. I took the rag off Daemon, then grabbed Derek's face in my hands. I looked into his pupils, then at his complexion. "You're pale."

"That's just from the run."

I shook my head, "Lean your head back."

I felt his tonsils and his throat glands; they were swollen too. I leaned in and smelled his breath. It didn't have a peculiar smell, but it was off. I couldn't exactly describe it. I grabbed his hand, and pulled him up. I stormed to his room, and then banged on the door. It took a few minutes, but Emily eventually opened the door, I stormed past her, still holding Derek's hand. I pointed to the bed, and said "Sit." Both him and Daemon did so. I riffled through all the food, and water in the room. I looked at Rossi, he seemed fine, maybe a little bit confused, but fine.

A minute later Hotch and Spencer walked in, "What's going on?"

Derek looked at them, "No clue. She just started freaking out when I was panting heavily after our run. Then she made us run in here."

I kept looking through everything, I moved onto their clothes. Derek protested when I went into his boxers, but I told him to shut up, "Think about what I'm doing."

I pulled out an electronic bug, and set it on the table. That had been wrapped up in some of Derek's socks. I went over to the water, and poured it all down the drain. I turned the shower on to cover up the noise. Then, I put the bug on the bathroom sink.

When I walked up I held a finger up to my lips, "If we whisper, we should be fine. Derek, I think you've been slightly poisoned." I could see him start to freak out, "You're fine. Just drink a ton of water the rest of the day, and you should be fine. Inspect the caps of the bottles for contamination though." He nodded, then sat back down on the bed.

Hotch looked at me, "How may of us do you think are poisoned?"

I shook my head, "No way to know. It only shows slight symptoms for the first few days, and then you wind up dead after the 4th day if I guessed the right drug. Everyone be careful until we find this son of a bitch."

Derek looked at Hotch, "We need to make sure the profile's perfect. He knows we're here, and he knows how to get to us. Before we go out and search the woods, let's give the local officers an updated profile."

Hotch nodded, "Ok, everybody in the SUVs in five. Everyone make sure you always have someone with you. Be extra careful. Jesse, can I see you outside?"

I nodded, and followed him out, "What's up?"

He looked at me, and I leaned against the wall in a submissive position so he would know I was cooperating. "I don't like the fact that you're keeping things from the team."

"Everyone has their secrets Hotch."

"Yes, but you've outright lied to us."

I was confused, I may hide certain facts, but I tried to not lie to the team, "What do you mean?"

"Your tattoo for one."

I looked at him and had to stop myself from laughing, "Really? Is that what your worried about? I got it when I was 19. My sister had one like it before she died."

"That's not it. You were going for runs in the morning, you're causing my team to lie to me." Before I could interrupt he held up a hand for me to stop, "Derek and Rossi both knew you didn't have a gun on you yesterday."

Shit. I didn't want to get them in trouble, "Hotch, if you have a problem with me, just tell me. I'll be on the next plane out of here. I really think I can help, but not if you're resisting me."

He looked me in the eye, "I want your help because if I don't, the director may disband my team."

I looked at him, "You covered for Strauss didn't you? With her drinking problem?"

He looked at me in shock, "You can't prove that."

"Exactly. And you can't prove I didn't have a gun on me yesterday. Besides, with a gun, the UNSUB would be much more injured than he is now. Had he attacked anyone else, they would've killed him, and you wouldn't know there was another UNSUB." I waited for him to respond, but he didn't, "Look, I don't care if you like me, but just don't get in my way."

I turned to walk back into Derek's room, but Hotch grabbed my arm before I could. I tensed up, and Hotch let go. I turned around, and he spoke, "Thanks for checking up on Derek. Without you, he may have ended up dead." I nodded my head, and we parted ways. It seemed Hotch was going to cause me some trouble. Hopefully I could solve this case and get on his good side.


	26. Chapter 26

**Jesse POV**

We all met up at the station, and immediately gave the profile to the locals. I let the rest of the team give most of it, but when it came to where we were going, I made sure I was the one to talk, "There will be booby traps. We go in first, then you follow behind and around us. Double check before you shoot. It'll probably be hard to see because of the tree cover."

A local interrupted me, "We know our forest ma'am."

I looked him in the eye, "No you don't officer, or else you would've accidentally found this son of a bitch earlier." He nodded, and backed down.

I walked over to the map, and pointed to where we would start. "He'll likely be here. We'll start there." I looked to my team, "We need to be extra careful. I'm not sure what to expect once we get there." They looked at me and nodded, "I'll run ahead-"

Before I could finish, Hotch's phone rang, "Hotchner."

He put it on speaker; it was Penelope "Is my Scottie there?"

I smiled, "Yeah, What'cha got for me?"

"Well my beautiful red headed mobster, I have a match for your DNA, it just came in."

"You beautiful wizard, don't keep me waiting. Just tell me already."

"Well someone's in a chipper mood. I bet that chocolate wonder had something to do with it."

I snatched the phone and took it off speaker before she could say anything more, "Garcia, we really need this guy. He's started to target us. I'll tell you when we get back, but we're about to head out to the location of the geographic profile. What do I need to know?"

She gave me the person's history, and confirmed the location of the cabin in the woods, "Go get 'em."

I hung up and turned to face the team, "We were right, that's exactly where he lives." I gave them the bio, and we headed out to the SUVs. I drove, but still kept an eye on Derek, "How are you doing?"

"I should be asking you that, you almost became another victim last night."

I waved my hand, "Don't change the subject Derek. I'll make you wait in the car."

"Don't segregate me with the dog."

I snorted in response, "He's coming with me. I have the DNA sample with me for him to sniff. We'll chase after him if need be."

Derek paused to consider that, "Well, then I'm fine. But how are we going to know it's you?"

At this point we had pulled up to the edge of the forest. The others were already here. We got out of the car, and put our Kevlar vests on. I looked at everyone and explained what Daemon and I would do. "I'll have a mike on, but we might get out of range. If I'm coming near someone, I'll whistle." I did so just so they could hear the noise, "Get going. I'll catch up in a minute."

Derek walked over to me, "You don't have to do this. You don't have to prove yourself to the team. We already know how good you are; or at least suspect."

I nodded, "I know, but I have to. What if he has another victim that hasn't been reported missing yet?"

He nodded then took off. I leaned down to let Daemon get the scent, then he leaned his nose against the ground and started walking.

**Derek POV**

About ten minutes later we found the cabin. Jesse hadn't caught up yet, so we went in without her, detailing it on the mike. We heard rustling in the bushed behind the house, so I ran out, "He's on the run!"

I took off, but I lost him very soon. Everyone except Jesse caught up, and we spanned out, our guns raised.

Five minutes later we hear rustling behind us, then a whistle. We knew it was Jesse, but didn't say anything. We all stopped to let her catch up. Daemon burst through the trees, and not a second later Jesse came running out after him. She didn't even slow down, actually sped up. I had never seen someone run so fast in my life, I didn't know it was possible. Over the mike we could hear, "The dog's got a scent. I'm in pursuit." We ran after her, knowing she would need assistance.

After five more minutes of running, I started to get out of breath. I knew it was from the poisoning, but I didn't slow down. Jesse would need help, probably as much as she could get. All of a sudden we heard gunshots, then over the mike, "He's got a gun! He's shooting blindly!"

I heard Hotch next, "Need a sit rep, now."

It took a minute, but then Jesse came back on, "He's still running." We heard another gun shot, "I don't know where people are so I can't fire in return."

We all sped up, but I knew we wouldn't be able to stay like this for long. "Jesse, where are you?"

"He's stopped in a clearing-" Before she could say anything else we heard more gunshots, then return fire.

Not a minute later we burst into the clearing, and saw the man handcuffed on the ground. I looked around for Jesse while the others cleared the scene. I spotted her bent over with her hand on a tree for support a few feet away. I jogged over to her, "You okay?"

She nodded her head, but didn't speak. I rubbed her back to help her breathe. After a few minutes she stood up and winced, "Yeah. I haven't run that hard in a long time. Plus I think he shot me." She held out her arm for me to see. She was right, but it looked like it only grazed her. The bullet wasn't even still there. She hissed in pain as my finer brushed over it, "Watch it. That does hurt you know." I looked at her face, and noticed the many scratches there.

"You really weren't being careful, were you?"

She shook her head, "Neither were you." I looked at my arms; they were in the same condition as hers, minus the gunshot wound. Thankfully we were wearing our Kevlar vests so our torsos didn't get scratched up.

I looked around for Daemon, and saw him circling the UNSUB. I could hear him occasionally growl, and I whistled him over. I was surprised when he actually came, but I leaned down to check him for scratches.

**Jesse POV**

I was trying severely hard not to puke. My stomach churned, and I hurt everywhere. I hadn't run that fast in a long time; probably since before Sophie was born. I leaned against the tree so I wouldn't collapse and closed my eyes. Derek was looking over Daemon, so I didn't have to worry about that. Slowly I sat down and put my head between my legs. I tried to ignore the pain in my left arm as my head started spinning.

Derek walked over to me, and leaned down in front of me, "Jesse, what's wrong." I didn't even open my eyes, "When was the last time you've eaten?"

I had to think about it, "I don't know."

I heard him mumble, "Shit." He jogged over to Hotch and said, "Her blood pressure's too low. She's about to pass out from the bleeding. I'm getting her back to the SUVs. I'll call a paramedic along the way." I still had my eyes closed, but could hear everything they were saying just fine.

I suspected my eyesight was trying to go, but couldn't yet. I just hoped I could get out of the forest in time. Derek helped me stand up, and put my arm around his waist. He put his arm around my shoulders to help me walk. Faintly I could hear Daemon behind us.

"Jesse start talking."

"Hmm?"

"Dammit. Stay awake Jesse. The bullet didn't even cut you that deep, it was a through and through."

"The damn thing won't stop bleeding."

"What hurts?"

"My arm, my head. And quite frankly my feet too."

He chuckled, "Talk to me about Daemon."

"I don't have a concussion Derek, I'm fine. Just a little blood loss."

"If you fall here you will get a concussion." I harrumphed. "Jesse I'm serious, keep talking or I'll purposefully touch your bullet wound."

"Fine." We talked the whole hour walk back to the SUVs. An ambulance was already there, and Derek led me over to them. Neither he nor Daemon would leave my side. I glared at them both, the big babies; I was just fine. The EMTs handed me a granola bar to eat while they cleaned all my wounds.

"Miss, you're going to have to go to the hospital to get this stitched." I harrumphed again. "We don't have the capabilities of doing this."

I glared at him, "Fine. But the dog comes in the ambulance with me." They started to shake their head, but I glared at them again and they stopped.

Derek looked at me, "I'll meet you there. Someone has to drive the SUV there."

I nodded, and jumped into the ambulance. "No lights, or siren. I'm not dying." My vision blurred slightly, but they didn't need to know that.

"Fine. But you should get a transfusion once you get there."

It didn't take long to get to the hospital, but it did take an effort for me to not take a nap. Once we got there, I did though. I didn't care what they wanted, I was tired. I made sure to tell them no pain meds though. I didn't need my eyesight getting even fuzzier. Finally the doctors stitched up the bullet holes, and put me on a transfusion line. I fell asleep just as Derek walked in.

A couple hours later I woke up, and my eyesight was still blurry. I blinked a few times, rubbed my eyes, and then it was fine. I looked around the room, and saw everyone was asleep except Hotch. He walked over to me and whispered, "Can you walk?" I nodded, and he helped me up. He lightly held onto my right arm to help me walk. My left arm was in a sling. I noticed he dragged a medical pole. Then I realized it was connected to the tube in my arm. I looked at him in confusion, "You were dehydrated. This was the easiest way to get you hydrated." I nodded, and we continued on. Eventually we stopped at the cafeteria. He helped me sit down, then went to get some food, "You want anything?" I shook my head, and he left.

A minute or two later he came back and set a plate in front of me. I raised an eyebrow at him, but ate it anyways. "What happened after Derek and I left the scene?"

"It all went according to procedure. He did not have another victim with him. The rest of us finished up at the station. We can leave whenever you're released." I nodded, and continued to eat. I guess I didn't realize how hungry I was. Hotch ate some too, but waited for me to finish. When we were both done, he took the plates away. I assumed we were going to go back up to the room, but he just sat back down. He looked at me for a few minutes, and I shifted positions to get comfortable.

"Hotch, I don't know what you want. You're the one who brought me down here."

He sighed, "Look, I assume everyone from Rossi to Garcia has given Derek the protective friend speech about you. Right?"

I paused, "Pretty much."

He nodded and continued, "Derek's only had a few serious relationships in his life. You've been married and had kids. You know the difference between the two." I nodded, "I get it, you're damaged goods. You're not sure if you could ever have that kind of relationship again, yet you may want to try." I didn't move a muscle, but he continued, "I don't know what you're thinking, and I'm not even going to try. I get there's a lot that we will never know about you, but to be frank, if you aren't fully interested in a relationship with Derek, don't even start one. Because if you break his heart, I'll do more than label you a terrorist."

I nodded, "Hotch, I didn't even want to try. Now? Maybe. I'll give it a try. I'll do my best not to hurt him though." Me I couldn't promise about though.

He nodded, "Do better than your best." I nodded my head once, and we both went back upstairs. We both acted as if the conversation had never happened, but we each had a new understanding of the other, and it wasn't that bad.


	27. Chapter 27

**Jesse POV**

When I woke up everyone had gone to get breakfast. The doctor came in almost right away after I woke up. "Morning."

I mumbled some unintelligible response, "Where's the coffee?" Screw my eyesight, I was tired.

He laughed, "I see you've had a good night. You scared my nurses when they came in to check on you and you weren't here."

I slowly sat up and swung my legs over the bed, "It's not my fault they're a bunch on unobservant old-"

I was interrupted by one of said nurses walking in, "Well hello there."

I just chose not to respond.

The doctor went over to look at the heart monitor, and after a few minutes he looked at me. "We haven't stitched up your wounds yet, hoping they'd close on themselves. We'd like to leave them that way, so don't do anything strenuous for awhile." I glared at him, I knew I could get some stinking thread and a needle somewhere. He said a few more things and left. I didn't pay attention because I'd read it off later. The nurse was fluttering around my room, and I waved her over.

"Do you need anything hun?"

I grabbed her arm for leverage to get up, "Stitching needles and thread."

"What for? The doctor told you he wanted it to heal naturally."

I used one arm to pull my shirt off. Thankfully I was still wearing a bra, "Ma'am, with all due respect, I don't care about a few more scars. What I want is for this to heal the fastest way possible. It'll just cause more pain without the stitches." She paused, so I continued, "How often have you seen wounds like this not stitched up? What if I get an infection? I could potentially sue the hospital, and that doctor would be out of a job." She slowly nodded. I knew I had her, "I'll be in the bathroom when you get them." Daemon walked over for me to put my hand on his head for balance. Slowly we made our way into the bathroom. I was sore, but I knew it'd go away in a few days. I stood next to the sink waiting for the nurse to come back.

When she came back she couldn't stop staring at my tattoo. "How old is that?"

I turned to look at it in the mirror, "My sister and I got matching tattoos before she died. After that I had part of it redone to look like what it is now. It used to be a lot bigger. Now it only spans over my shoulder blades."

She nodded, "What's the significance of it?"

Well, I had opened the door for this question, so I may as well tell her, "I was born here, but raised in Scotland. I live in Scotland for about half the year, but I am still very patriotic to America. I could never leave either of my countries."

**Derek POV**

I had walked in while she was talking to the nurse about her tattoo. I couldn't help but listen. I wished I could look at it in detail, see the true beauty of it. When I hard her say that she could never leave either of her countries, I knew I had to leave. I didn't want to eavesdrop on anything else that private. I was amazed that she would disclose something like that to someone she didn't know, but she wouldn't tell us. But then again, she had been forced to show us her scars. She showed the nurse her scars out of medical need. I turned around and left the room to go tell the team she needed a few minutes.

We gave her about ten minutes, then we all walked into her room. I noticed the bathroom door was still open, so I walked in. I had to stop it surprised me so much. "Jesse, doesn't the doctor want to do that?"

She was stitching her own bullet wound up. She had extra thread in between her teeth. She took the thread out of her mouth, "Because you brought me to a new age hospital that doesn't believe in the value of modern medicine."

Reid walked in behind me, "Some doctors do believe it is better for wounds to heal up on their own."

She turned to glare at him, "Not if the wound reopens every time the patient tries to move."

"Which is generally why the patient would stay in the hospital waiting for it to scab over."

She started sewing the bullet wound closed again, and was done in a few loops of the thread. She tied that one off, then moved to the exit wound, "For a scratch? Hell no. The only reason I came here in the first place was because my B.P. was too low, and I needed a transfusion from how much it was bleeding. Otherwise I would've just done it with my sewing kit." She had the exit wound closed in even less time, and motioned for us to move out of her way. She walked over to grab the sling, and winced as she put it on.

The doctor walked back in at this moment, and started staring at her tattoo. She glared at him, and turned so he couldn't see it. She started to put her shirt on, but then saw the blood stains on it. She tossed it to the side, then looked back at the doctor, "Just so you know, it took five stitches for the wound. That should've been done yesterday before you let me fall asleep. What if I bled out in my sleep?"

"Ma'am I'll ask you to save your opinions for when you receive a medical degree. Furthermore, why did you stitch those up? I wanted to observe them to see how they progressed."

She stood up, and shoved her finger into his chest, "I am not your guinea pig. You have my discharge papers here within the hour or I'll report you to your supervisor. Quite frankly, I think I've studied more medicine than you clearly have, or ever will." He left, and Jesse sat on the bed facing us.

"What do you mean you've studied more medicine than he has?" I was confused now.

"Eidetic memory. I've read almost every medical book there is. I also know that he should've stitched these up yesterday, and that he'll be lucky if I don't get an infection."

I shook my head, "You didn't have to be so arrogant with him."

She nodded, "Derek, if I hadn't known that, if it was a different patient, a different scenario, they could've died. Yeah, I'll report him to his supervisor, once we land back in D.C"

Emily handed the plate of food we had brought up from the cafeteria for her, and she devoured it within seconds. She looked Hotch in the eye, and gave him a slight nod. I didn't know what it was about, and I wasn't sure I wanted to either.


	28. Chapter 28

**Jesse POV**

The next few cases were relatively simple; we had them all solved within a manner of days. Once each case was finished, and all the paperwork was done, Derek would take me out for drinks. It had been a month or so since I joined the team, and I finally decided that we could go out for dinner.

And that put me in my current predicament. I was standing in the middle of a dress boutique trying to decide what was appropriate for a fancy dinner. Derek insisted that since it was our first real date that it would be a very fancy place, and that we even may go somewhere after. He wouldn't tell me, and refused to tell anyone else lest they tell me. I just shook my head at him and smiled. Considering I was being so pig headed about this I could let him have that small thing. I was looking throughout the store with the most annoying sales person trailing me the entire time. I insisted that I was fine by myself but it was as if some people could smell money a mile away; or maybe it was just the desperation. Either way I was almost ready to leave the store entirely if this woman didn't leave me alone. I had just turned around to leave when I saw it, the perfect evening gown. It was the deepest teal I had ever seen, and was form fitting with just the tiniest train. On the shoulder there was a light strap that had a flower of some sort on it. It was the perfect shade for my deep red hair. I bought it instantly without looking at the price.

That was a week ago. I had the dress laid out on my bed, still covered to prevent dog hair from getting on it. This one time I would leave Daemon at home. It was mostly because I didn't know where we were going, and I wasn't sure if Daemon would remain calm. I pulled my thin black shawl out from the back of my closet; it had been my mother's. I kept it in good condition all these years. I was glad it was sheer so a person could still see the front of the dress while I could cover up my tattoo nicely. I sat down at the vanity in my bedroom and tried to calm myself. I had two hours to do my hair and makeup; I would be fine. I may even have time to play the piano some before he got here.

I hummed silently to myself as I styled my hair. I straightened it, then curled it slightly. I twisted it back, and placed the pins in. By the time this was all done Daemon had fallen asleep at my feet. I looked down at him and smiled. He would enjoy the quiet tonight. I looked over to my small jewelry chest and pulled out one of my favorite hairpins. It was a small flower with jewels that matched the ones on my dress almost perfectly. I placed that in and started in on my makeup. By the time that was done, I barely had enough time to get into my dress.

I heard a knock on my door and James came in. "'Lo? Anybody here?"

I turned around and put the finishing touches on my makeup, "I thought you were Derek."

He chuckled, "Nay, he would haveta get buzzed in first."

I glared at him, "The doorman's taken a liking to him, he doesna need to anymore."

He tossed my phone onto the counter next to me, "Well maybe if ye checked yer phone more often then ye'd notice the missed call from Derek."

I checked my voicemail. Derek said he would be a half hour late because he needed to get one thing finished before our date. I sighed, that gave me more time to get ready. I wouldn't be late then. I motioned for James to turn around so I could change into my dress. He obliged, and then did my zipper when I asked him.

"Ye know, if we werena siblings one could think this would lead to somethin' else."

I turned around and slapped him on the back of his head. "Just fer that ye can get out. And we're barely even related!"

He chuckled and turned to leave. I followed him out to the kitchen, grabbing my purse along the way. He was almost out the door when he turned to say, "Ye may want to loose the accent sister before you go out."

I grabbed the nearest thing on the counter and threw it at him, "OUT!" I could hear his laughter through the door.

I sat down at my piano in the extra room I used as a library and started to play.

**Derek POV**

I parked the car and rushed up to Jesse's room. I hoped she wouldn't be too mad at me for being late. There was a last minute problem with our reservation and I had to fix it. I passed her brother in the hall, "Hey James. Is she too mad?"

He laughed and shook her head, "Nope. She's glad you took a little extra time. She's sitting trying to calm her nerves now. Go on in, it's unlocked." I hesitated and he walked towards his place, "She won't try to kill you I promise." I chuckled and turned the knob, "This time." I gulped and went in.

I heard a CD of piano music playing softly. Daemon walked over to my side and licked my hand, then walked into another room. I followed him hoping he knew where Jesse was. I was going to call out, but I didn't want to scare her.

I walked into what looked like a library. I saw a magnificent baby grand piano, with Jesse sitting on the stool. Her fingers moved effortlessly along the keys, both hands moving at once. Her hair was slightly curled and lay twisted on her neck. It looked like she had some sort of pin in it, but I couldn't see from this angle. I wanted to walk right up behind her and kiss the back of her neck but I knew it was too early in our relationship to do that. She might stab me, or worse, castrate me. I winced at the thought and walked into the room. I sat next to her on the bench. She opened her eyes and smiled at me. She lifted her fingers off the keys, and I held them on, "Don't stop." She started playing again, switching to a happier melody. This one was a little fast, but still awe-inspiring. We sat there for awhile, and then she stopped playing. "I didn't know you played."

She started rubbing the knuckles on her left hand, "I don't usually because these fingers won't straighten all the way out. It hurts too much sometimes."

"Then why did you play tonight?" She looked so beautiful that I didn't want anything to hurt her.

She looked away and then back at me, "I don't know. I haven't played in a long time, and tonight I just felt like playing. It doesn't matter anyways."

She started to get up but I pulled her arm back down to sit, "Yes it does Jesse. I want to know everything."

She looked at me, and I could see the sorrow in her eyes, "Are you sure?"

I nodded, "Definitely."

She took a deep breath, "Ok then." I could tell that was all she would say for now.

"Should we get going? We have a reservation downtown."

I helped her up and she grabbed her purse. It matched her dress, a tealish color. I saw her put a shawl on, and I wanted her to stop. I wanted to tell her how I thought her scars were beautiful because they made her who she was, but I couldn't. I had to do this right or I would loose her forever.

**Jesse POV**

He opened the car door for me like a perfect gentlemen. I just smiled. If he wanted to be sweet I would let him. The restaurant was one that I had wanted to try years ago but had never had a reason to. I told him so and he smiled. I asked Derek about himself throughout dinner. I was laughing at stories of his mother, and wanted to cry when he told me what that man did to him. I put my hand on his and told him I understood. He told me he wished I didn't. Once desert came he told me we were going somewhere else after this. I asked, but he wouldn't tell. When we pulled up at the Theatre I laughed and shook my head.

"I haven't been here in years Derek."

He laughed, "You said that about the restaurant."

I laughed and he pulled me towards the door, "Because it's true." We went to our seat and sat down. The entire time he wouldn't even let me look at a playbill. "Come on, you have to tell me what's playing."

The lights went down, and the conductor came out on stage, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you to the Royal Scottish Orchestra." I gasped and looked over to Derek. He just smiled. I leaned back in my seat and just watched. I knew some of my family was up there, but I didn't know if I could face them yet. Would they forgive me?

Around the second harmony Derek pulled me up and whispered in my ear, "Come on, let's go backstage. I know a guy."

I laughed again, "Of course you do."

We went around the edge of the theatre and slipped behind a curtain. We were stopped by a security guard, but he paused when he saw both of us. "Ms. Greame. Mr. Morgan. They are expecting you after the show, but a few are waiting for you now."

I looked at Derek and he just smiled, "Come on." I followed him until we reached one of the dressing rooms.

"How did you know they'd be here? This wasn't publicized." Even I didn't know they were here.

He paused again, "You have your contacts and I have mine. Don't be so surprised."

I shook my head and laughed, "I'm supposed to be the spook, not you."

He opened the door and I stopped when I saw the people inside. They looked at me, and stopped what they were doing. "Jesse? Is that you?"

I gulped and entered the lions den.


	29. Chapter 29

I looked at Derek and saw the confusion on his face. I grabbed his hand and pulled him in and shut the door. "Derek, I'd like you to meet some of my family. These are some of my cousins on my mother's side."

They each introduced themselves and shook Derek's hand. My cousin Don clapped him on the back, "How have you been? I haven't seen you in years. It was good to hear from you again Derek."

"How do you two know each other?" I just laughed. Don seemed to know everyone.

"Well a few years back Derek brought another girl here who was a friend of the security guard. We just hit it off and have been friends since."

"Oh ho! So you've used this trick before now, have you Derek?"

He smiled sheepishly, "Ok to be fair, there was no concert or anything. We just got a backstage tour. This is different."

"Sure." I laughed and shook my head. "Then how was Don here?"

"She's got you there." He laughed and motioned for us to sit on the couch. "But I was only doing a sound check. That was the year we thought we were going to play here but ended up playing in New York instead." Don was a major tech guy for the Orchestra. He even could fix most of their instruments. "So Jesse how have you been? When was the last time you were in Scotland?"

I laughed, "When was the last time you were in Scotland?"

"Ok you got me there. But mom misses you. She keeps insisting you visit your father's side of the family, but never your mother's."

"Tell her that if you four weren't the only ones left I'd visit more." In reality there were more than just her, Don, and Don's sister on that side but Derek could see most of them here.

He just smiled, "I told her it was fine. We don't want vagrants like you in the family anyway."

"I'm the only non-vagrant in that family!"

Don laughed but didn't say anything further, "We should probably stop so Derek can remain to think we're civilized people."

"I didn't know we had him fooled."

Derek just laughed, "Don't worry; I'm starting to think otherwise."

We could hear the orchestra in the background but continued to talk the entire night. The members of my family that were on stage during the show came in this room at the end; it seemed my family got a whole room to itself and our guests.


End file.
